The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast

Matt Futterman from The New York Times and I sat down and chopped it up right outside of the media centre on the grounds at The Australian Open, and we discussed all of the hot button topics dominating pro tennis- The PTPA antitrust lawsuit and the Tennis Australia settlement, Craig Tiley's imminent move to run the USTA, the college players shining in Australia, the Saudi tournament coming down the pipe, and a whole lot more. Matt has a book coming out in August titled " The Cruelest Game: Chasing Greatness in Professional Tennis" and we discussed the brass tacks of this project. It was an awesome chat.

Recorded 1.26 Released 1.27

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Torben Beltz and I have been floating around each other for a lot of years. He made his bones on the Angie Kerber bag, taking her to #1 in the world in 2016. He has coached Raducanu, Vekic, and Anette Konteveit. He is now the head of the women for the German federation and he and I met on the rood at Rod Laver Arena and Torben gave a masterclass in professional coaching. It was an awesome chat and a perfect begining to the 2026 season.

Recorded 1.24 Released 1.25

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Claudio Pistolesi was one of the names that always caught my eye when I would read the rankings on the back page of Tennis Week Magazine- something about that name- PISTOLESI- and we spoke for the first time just a few days ago and the conversation did not disappoint. Claudio has lived an incredible life in tennis.

The best junior in the world in 1985 armed with a big Fila contract brokered by the legendary Italian dealmaker Cino Marchese, Claudio had a robust career on tour, and after a decade in the top 100 he became Monica Seles' hitting partner, then segued into having an elite coaching career.

He is now in charge of the JTCC Satellite in Jacksonville, Florida, and has a new book out. We discussed all of the hot button topics of the day including the Ferrero-Alcaraz breakup, the problem with the schedule, and the diminishing of the smaller tournaments.

Recorded 12.19 Released 12.22

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Charlie Eccleshare has distinguished himself as one of the omnipresent and respected full time tennis writers on the globe, thriving as the sheer numbers of the like have dwindled. He files stories for The New York Times sports arm- The Athletic, on a weekly basis, and is a regular voice on the always great The Tennis Podcast as well.

Charlie joined me from London and we spent an hour recapping the season, moving smoothly from the Murray-Djokovic partnership to the rise of Fonseca to the beautiful on court speech given by Anisimova at Wimbledon. We discussed all of the hot button topics of the day including scheduling, Saudi Arabia, and the trials and tribulations of Aryna Sabalenka.

It was a tremendous chat.

Recorded 11.28 Released 11.29

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After an elite junior career Caty McNally blasted onto the pro tennis scene in 2019, where she played Serena Williams tough in the 2nd round night session at the US Open. With an extremely versatile game she rose steadily in the rankings, got to 54 in the spring of 2023 before elbow pain became a major problem, culminating with surgery in 2024.

Now 24 years old today she has grinded back into the main draws of all the tournaments winning Newport, RI after playing Iga Swiatek tough on centre court at Wimbledon. She is now the world #81 and poised to make some noise in 2026.

Caty was remarkably forthcoming in our conversation, we discussed all of the hot button topics of the day, and she painted a very interesting picture of what life for a young American on tour is like. It was an awesome chat.

Recorded 11.19 and Released 11.20

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.