Tennisnerd - Where we bond over tennis

This is Sarah's second time on the podcast. The last time we talked, she was working on founding a tennis company, and now it is here! Richsport sells colorful and fun tennis accessories and merch. If you're curious about their products, this podcast works better on YouTube, but if audio is your thing, you can check out their website.

I wish Sarah and Nicole all the best with their new venture. Ps. I really like the overgrips myself, and I am pretty picky! Ds.

Beckett Chung is one of the founders of Tenncom Media, where he reviews gear and creates video content with his business partner Simon Cuell. Check out Tenncom on YouTube for a taste of their refreshing and engaging style. Beckett knows a lot about racquets and strings, so we delve into that. Before this recording, we spent a week with Tennis Warehouse, testing some exciting gear for 2025, so we also look ahead at next year.

Henrik is back on the podcast to discuss the Gear of the Year 2024. We focus on racquets but also mention strings and shoes towards the end. It's a nerdy pod, but hopefully, you can get something out of it. Full video with footage on the Tennisnerd YouTube channel.

Coach Conor Casey used to play professional tennis and write for sitcoms. Now, he entertains and informs a growing audience with funny and relatable tennis content on his Instagram account @tenniscoachconorcasey

Fabio Molle is the founder of Functional Tennis, the largest tennis-related account on Instagram with 1 million followers. Functional Tennis is also famous for the Saber, a training racquet with a 37 sq inch head size which has been seen in the hands of top pros. He also runs a podcast with many interesting guests, like top pros and coaches. We talked about his background in tennis, pros and cons with running an ecommerce business, creating tennis products and much more.

Check out the Saber

Dan Wolken is an award-winning columnist for USA Today who has covered sports for over two decades. He is also a dedicated tennis player. He has written a book about Coco Gauff called "Cocomania," and we talk about the book, Coco,  the state of tennis and even get into racquets and strings towards the end.

Check out Dan's book on Amazon

Legendary coach Rick Macci is back on the podcast, and this time, we discuss the US Open 2024, how a player develops a style, the importance of going for your shots, junior tennis development, and lots more.

Global business manager Dennis Fabian and Global product manager, Maximilian Bauer from HEAD join me to discuss the new HEAD Extreme racquets, their upcoming releases, and much more. I hope you enjoy the podcast. There was a lag when recording this remote podcast, I hope it doesn't affect your listening experience too much. Thanks, as always, for listening.

Peter Clarke is a former professional tennis player who retired in 2007 and was ranked in the top 250 players in the world. He has recently launched the impressive Coachlife platform, where coaches for the top players in the world deliver in-depth lessons about technique, mindset, nutrition, match play, and more.

I have tried the Coachlife platform, and it is an excellent tool for inspiration and improvement. Use the code TENNISNERD10 to get 10% off. 

Jose Hernandez Fernandez (also known as Bebo) is an ex-pro player from the Dominican Republic who retired from the ATP Tour in 2020 and has since coached. He achieved success with WTA top 40 player Yue Yuan earlier in 2024 when she won her first WTA title and reached the quarter-finals of Indian Wells.

I know Bebo personally, and for this podcast, we got to sit down in person and talk about his life on tour, the successes and struggles of being a tennis pro, growing up in the Dominican Republic, and what tennis organizations can do better to improve the situation for aspiring professional players.

Tennis balls have been in the spotlight lately, with multiple complaints about quality and consistency from pro tennis players. Why is this happening, what has been done to improve the situation, and what can be done in the future? Mauro Pinaffo is HEAD's Senior Global Product Manager for Tennis and Padel balls and gives us all the answers and some interesting stats and details about tennis balls you might not know.

Tim Puttock is back on the podcast! This time, we talk about upcoming Prince releases, their product portfolio, strategy and the recently reviewed Phantoms. Tim has a wealth of experience as a racquet engineer and I think there is a lot to learn from this conversation.

Michael Joyce reached a career-high of ATP #64 and transitioned to a very successful coaching career. He worked with Sharapova for 7 years before her retirement and coached players like Pegula, Azarenka and Keys. Now, he works with American WTA-talent Ashlyn Krueger.

Michael is also one of the featured coaches in Coachlife, a new platform focused for players of all levels to improve their tennis. Get 10% off using TENNISNERD10.

Eric Lee is the co-founder of the hyped-up string brand Toroline. He used to play D1 college tennis and started the company alongside other strong tennis players to challenge the string market with softer, more colorful string options. They have been on a strong path in 2023/2024 with the success of pro player/content creator Karue Sell and their custom poly hybrid venture called Omakase. In this episode, we talk about their journey, racquet nerding, the string market, and the jungle of options for the consumer.

I have been a fan of the AI-driven software Swingvision since I first tried it in 2021. Apple has featured it in its famous Keynote speeches, named it "App of the Day," and given it an Apple design award. Ex-pros Andy Roddick and James Blake have been early investors, and there are also backers like Jason Liu from Strava and Albert Lee from MyFitnessPal.

I was excited to sit down with Swupnil Sahai, the CEO and co-founder, to discuss Swingvision's journey so far and its future.