Tennisnerd - Where we bond over tennis

Stringing on tour with Nikki Roenn

I sit down with my friend, ex-pro, and stringer, Nikki Roenn. We talk about the conditions for stringers and his recent experiences stringing at tour events.

Davor Dekaris, Tennis Haus

Davor Dekaris is a tennis director of Tchefuncta Country Club in Covington, Louisiana. He is an ex-pro player turned tennis coach who has had significant success with his brand Tennis Haus. We talk about everything from professional tennis life, to coaching club players, the state of tennis, and content creation.

Meike Babel, former top 30 WTA player

Meike Babel is a former WTA top 30 player who now works as a coach and is building a strong online following. She is refreshingly open and honest, and we had a great conversation, which I hope you all will enjoy! If you do, please subscribe to the podcast.

 

Grisha Kuklin, Gladiators Tennis

Grigory "Grisha" Kuklin is an aspiring pro player and content creator with his brand name Gladiators Tennis. He has been a hitting partner to top pros like Medvedev and Rublev and documents his journey on the ITF Tour on his YouTube channel. He is refreshingly honest and energetic, and we had a lot of fun in this hour of conversation.

When tennis becomes therapy with Sarah Koudouzian

Sarah Koudouzian is a bestselling author and fitness entrepreneur. She was once a high-ranked aspiring pro, but a nasty injury crushed her tennis dreams, and she had to find herself outside the tennis court. In this podcast, we talk about her journey outside tennis and how she found the sport again when she needed it most.

You can check out her book here: https://amzn.to/3rCh3P7
And her Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/sarahkoudouzian

Simon Konov, Top Tennis Training

Top Tennis Training is leading the charge of online tennis training on YouTube. The company is run by Simon Konov and Alex Slabinsky, two former tennis pros. They reach more than 350k subscribers on their YouTube channels and have amassed 200 million video views and 100 000 online students. I talked to founder Simon Konov about their journey on YouTube, the brutality of being a lower-ranked tennis pro and we also get some top tennis training tips for club level players.

Ian Westermann, Essential Tennis

Ian Westermann is one of the leading tennis coaches and personalities on YouTube. He has created educational tennis content for 14 years and built a large following. He has recently also written a book about improving as a tennis player called Essential Tennis: https://amzn.to/3PH9Vee

Rick Macci on Wimbledon, AI, Novak and more

I had the fortune to sit down with star coach Rick Macci to discuss Wimbledon, the addition of AI, Novak's legacy, Raducanu, and much more.

The video version is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3K9RBvFRff4

Find out more about Rick and his incredible coaching career: https://rickmacci.com/

Christopher Clarey, Author of the Federer biography, The Master

I am joined by Christopher Clarey, a sports journalist who spent over 30 years at the New York Times and did many personal interviews with Roger Federer. This prompted him to write the Federer biography, "The Master", which has become a bestseller. Now he is working on a book about Rafa Nadal and has recently left the Times and started a Substack. We talk about his work, tennis, media, and even get into racquets.

Check out The Master: https://amzn.to/3CRhfMU
Christopher's newsletter: https://substack.com/@christopherclarey

Foot Doctor Zach Thomas

Dr. Zach Thomas has built a significant following on social media as "Foot Doctor Zach," where he tests tennis and basketball shoes. Dr. Zach is a board-certified Podiatrist and Foot and Ankle Surgeon. In this podcast, we talk about his favorite tennis shoes, things to look for in finding the right shoe, and why pros rarely upgrade their shoes.

Racquet talk with Henrik Wallensten

Henrik Wallensten is a racquet reviewer and tennis reporter for the Swedish Magazine. He is also a stringer for the Swedish Davis Cup team and plays with success on the ITF Masters Tour. Once in a while, we catch up on racquets, strings and tennis in general. This podcast also discusses our recent trip with Adidas to Paris.

Karue Sell, My Tennis HQ

Karue is a former #33 best junior player in the world, #371 ATP professional, and former UCLA college tennis standout. He co-founded My Tennis HQ and regularly shares his tennis knowledge and experience on his YouTube channel. He is also currently on the team of ATP pro Marcos Giron. In this episode, we talk about his career as a player, coach, and YouTuber. We also get into "tennisnerdy" topics like racquets, strings, and how your equipment can mold your game.

Nikola Aracic from Intuitive Tennis

Nikola Aracic is a former top 40 NCAA D1 college player and tennis coach with 25 years of experience. He is one of the leading coaches on YouTube and has built a devoted following thanks to his straightforward approach and coaching methods. In this podcast, we talk about everything from how he got started, to racquets and strings, if it's too late to become a pro and much more.

Coach Evan wrote a book

Evan Gaudreau is a former D1 college player and coach who has developed a quite unique way of looking at tennis. We have talked about his box system and patterns of play in several podcasts before this one, but now he has put his thoughts down into a book called Shell Game. Check it out on Amazon.

Michelle Heidbrink, Tennis Warehouse

Michelle is familiar with most people who follow the world of tennis gear. She is a play-tester, content creator, and podcaster for Tennis Warehouse. Make sure to check out her podcast, Talk Tennis! This conversation goes from racquets to shoes to wine and many other topics. We hope you like it, please subscribe if you do!