Gill Gross

Gill Gross is a broadcaster for Tennis Channel, US Open Radio, Cracked Racquets, and UC San Diego. He runs his own YouTube channel where he deep-dives into tennis matches with his Monday Match Analysis. We had a long and in-depth chat about tennis and media, storytelling in tennis, the importance of your coaching team, and predictions about players like Alcaraz, Auger-Aliassime, Tsitsipas, Kyrgios, Djokovic, and Nadal.</p> Timestamps</p> 00:00 Intro <br /> 01:16 Gill’s background as a journalist and tennis player <br /> 08:35 Keeping up with the tennis world is not easy! <br /> 16:10 Putting coaches into the spotlight to sell the sport <br /> 26:25 The match is a story, commentating on live tennis <br /> 40:44 The importance of focus and coach consistency<br /> 58:12 Auger-Aliassime’s 2023 and future <br /> 1:07:09 Tsitsipas 2023 and future <br /> 1:14:23 The importance of the team and routines <br /> 1:22:41 Nick Kyrgios 2023 and future <br /> 1:29:41 Players vs social media <br /> 1:47:58 Alcaraz in 2024 <br /> 1:54:39 Novak in 2024 <br /> 1:58:26 Rafa and US tennis in 2024</p>  </p>

02:04:38

Tony Wright, Balanced Tennis

Tony Wright is a USTPA Elite professional and a teaching pro at the Newport Beach Tennis Club. He runs the brand Balanced Tennis, where his interesting and often humorous clips using film references caught my and many other followers eyes. It turns out he is also a really nice guy and an interesting chat. In this podcast we get into anything from coaching headaches, to the life of being media on the tours and, as well, lots of gear.</p> Time stamps 00:00 Intro<br /> 03:34 Starting tennis late<br /> 07:59 Coaching kids vs seniors<br /> 16:17 Typical issues among rec players<br /> 17:45 Common injuries and racquet choices<br /> 22:27 Control racquet over power racquet to improve<br /> 25:56 Dealing with injuries<br /> 34:34 From creative writing to tennis<br /> 40:33 Being a self-taught tennis nerd<br /> 44:20 Are there pickleball wars in Newport?<br /> 52:37 The state of US tennis<br /> 1:00:18 Breakpoint vs ITF Futures<br /> 1:09:14 Going behind the scenes<br /> 1:19:18 Tony’s racquet(s) of choice<br /> 1:25:14 Playing tournaments<br /> 1:30:32 Tennis apparel and shoes<br /> 1:51:35 Selling tennis as a sport</p>

02:11:23

Felix Mischker from Tennis Brothers

Felix has become a well-known figure on the professional tennis circuit by documenting his quest for one ATP point on his YouTube channel, Tennis Brothers. We sit down with him after he has just gotten his first point! But the journey doesn't stop there, of course...</p> Time stamps</p> 00:00 Intro <br /> 00:45 Combining tennis career with YouTube <br /> 12:20 Tennis and money <br /> 20:04 Tennis is too old-fashioned in terms of media <br /> 27:00 Is UTS the way to go? <br /> 29:35 Next steps in Felix’ journey <br /> 35:13 Felix’ maturity as a creator and entrepreneur <br /> 38:29 The work behind The Road to an ATP Point <br /> 42:55 How he dealt with the dark moments, like the injury period and the loss streak. <br /> 47:32 The bubble life of tennis <br /> 53:46 Felix racquet setup <br /> 1:02:35 There are TWO tennis brothers <br /> 1:04:16 The grind of the ITF vs the UTR circuit <br /> 1:07:54 How can we help lower-ranked players to make a living and also grow the sport? <br /> 1:14:48 Tennis has a marketing problem. We need more drama! <br /> 1:23:22 The varying conditions on the ITF circuit <br /> 1:30:35 Will we see other pros try to copy the Road to ATP format? <br /> 1:39:03 Do fans come up to you and ask for autographs? <br /> 1:44:57 Did you ever break a racquet? <br /> 1:49:26 Calling your own lines in ITF qualifiers</p>

01:57:23

Mark Sansait

Mark Sansait is a part-time tennis coach and runs a YouTube channel where he shares his competitive play, string reviews, and more. He is a regular feature of the Real Tennis channel and the Essential Tennis circuit and plays at 5.0 NTRP level. He is known for his explosive (he calls it "toxic") personality on the court, often resulting in humorous outbursts.</p> Timestamps</p> 00:00 Intro</p> 01:06 Competing in your 30s or 40s</p> 13:34 Setting goals for improving</p> 15:04 Dealing with losses and fast food</p> 19:37 Tennis background</p> 23:30 An Ode to the Battle in Tennis</p> 26:45 Dealing with calling your own lines</p> 36:12 The benefits of filming yourself</p> 44:27 Levels and ratings in tennis</p> 51:25 Time to talk tennis gear</p> 58:07 The pros and cons of being a tennis Youtuber</p> 1:05:15 Toxic on-court personality</p> 1:15:11 Favorite players</p>

01:26:03

Nikola from Intuitive Tennis is back!

One of your favorite podcast guests, Nikola Aracic, from Intuitive Tennis, is back on the pod! This was a marathon one. Sadly, there were some audio/video sync issues, so the video version covers around 50% of the topics discussed here. But the audio should give you PLENTY of interesting topics to dive into. I hope you like it!</p> Timestamps:</p> 00:00 We are tennis nerds <br /> 10:00 Tennis is a confidence game<br /> 15:54 Playing an ATP pro as an amateur<br /> 19:00 Different levels of tennis<br /> 35:00 The excitement and pain of competition<br /> 47:28 The battle against yourself<br /> 1:25:00 Over-the-top celebrations<br /> 1:56:48 Gear-talk<br /> 2:32:30 How to get more out of Nikola’s coaching</p>

02:42:59

Karue Sell, Part 2

Karue Sell is an ex-pro player who still competes at a high level on the UTR circuit. He is on the Marcos Giron coaching team and runs MyTennisHQ, a popular website and YouTube channel.  He has now released a coaching platform with his friend, ex-pro player Klay Thompson called <a href="https://app.mproov.me/tennisnerd">MPROOV</a>. We talked about how YouTubers hurt your tennis, the experience of playing table tennis with Roger Federer, and much more! Video episode on YouTube.</p>

01:30:50

Podcast with Juan from Restring

Juan is the co-founder of Restring, a company developing tennis strings with a focus on sustainability, durability and snapback. Their first string, Restring Zero, has garnered lots of praise and we sat down to talk about the journey with Restring, developing strings, being a hitting partner to the pros and much more. As always, video episode on YouTube and more tennis on tennisnerd.net</p> Get 10% off Restring Zero here: https://shoprestring.com/?ref=tennisnerd</p>

01:35:47

US Open Predictions with Coach Karl Adrian

Coach Karl Adrian joins me to go through the US Open draw. "Adri" has been in several Tennisnerd videos, is now on the ATP player Roman Safiullin team, and runs the Tennis Valley Academy in Estepona, Spain. In this episode, we look at the men's and the women's draws and make predictions.</p>

00:37:09

Dylan Gee from Tennis with Dylan

Dylan Gee is a London-based tennis coach who has built a strong following with the Instagram account @tenniswithdylan. He used to play professional tennis and is now mixing tennis coaching with sports modeling and influencer engagements. We talk about his passion for coaching, meeting Alcaraz, the rise of Chinese tennis, and much more.</p>

01:08:21

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.</p>

00:32:06