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Talking Tennis Southern Style covers tennis in nine Southern states and is hosted by longtime tennis TV & radio personality Sam Crenshaw. The podcast is the official show of USTA Southern, the largest section of the United State Tennis Association and represents 26% of the national members.
Tennis is the sport of a lifetime and a former Atlanta Falcon wide receiver Brian Finneran is now excited about playing and watching tennis. He was wowed by the speed and athleticism of pro tennis players at the Atlanta Open. Brian can be heard on air on 680 The Fan, an Atlanta sports radio station. Andrew Walker worked four years at USTA Kentucky while rising in the ranks of tennis officiating. Now he is the Chief Umpire of the US Open. With October being LGBT History Month, Andrew recounted that when he was hired by the USTA Officiating Department, he felt secure enough to come out. In our spotlights are USTA Gold Ball champions Carrington Brown and Raegan Mulberry of Georgia and Kentucky Tennis Hall of Famers Tom McGraw and Katy Tinius.
Omar Alcaino has been at the helm of seven straight USTA Mississippi Junior Team Tennis champion teams including winning a Southern 10 & Under Intermediate title this year. Embracing his Chilean heritage, he reflects on his journey, which led him to excel as a Sun Belt singles champion at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and thrive as a dedicated tennis coach. Brenda Carter achieved the impressive distinction of being ranked No. 1 in her age division eight times when she was inducted into the Southern Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015. Her remarkable success continues as Carter currently serves as the playing captain for the United States in the 75s ITF Masters World Championships in Spain. Notably, she holds the No. 10 world ranking within her age group. Highlighted are Remedios “Edward” Naval of Charleston, South Carolina, and USTA Louisiana Hall of Famers Lauren Cotter Wilson, Harold "Rocky" Andry and Ruthie Shoptaught Kean and family.
Talking Tennis Soutern Style promotes Hispanic Heritage Month. With almost twenty years of experience as a tennis teacher, Belén Gómez-Jordana founded the non-profit and NJTL United Tennis. In order to counter stereotypes, Gómez-Jordana created the Tennis for All program. She delivers group and individual classes at a very low cost. Gómez-Jordana volunteers on the USTA North Carolina Diversity and Inclusion Committee and is a former journalist at Telemundo Noticias Charlotte. Ponch Ochoa was an All-American at North Carolina State and cites his family background for launching his tennis career. He is the son of French Open 1958 women’s doubles and 1959 mixed doubles champion Yolanda "Yola" Ramírez Ochoa. Ponch remembers her ability, tenacity and grit as a tennis coach. His father, Alfonso Ochoa, was also a top-level pro who played on the ATP Tour. We celebrate North Carolinian juniors Siddhant Dua & Smyan Vijay and the newest inductees into the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame: Leslie Hewett Bashinsky and Dudley Reynolds.
Leigh Torrence says tennis was his first love and dreamed of being another Arthur Ashe. He was a top-level junior out of Atlanta. Still, he’s most famous for his NFL career, playing for six teams including the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons, and coaching for the Saints and New York Jets. “I think tennis is demanding of you mentally … and great preparation for football.” He recently took the USTA Coach Level 1 Workshop to begin teaching tennis. World-renowned sports performance researcher Dr. Mark Kovacs, from Marietta, Georgia, was an All-American and NCAA doubles champion at Auburn University and earned his doctoral degree from the University of Alabama. He focuses on improving tennis service motions, along with working with NBA basketball players. Kovacs was the youngest recipient of the International Tennis Hall of Fame Educational Merit Award. Highlighted are junior Caiden Karetas, of Gulfport Mississippi, and North Carolina Tennis Hall of Famers Rebel Good, Jeff Joyce, Sam Paul and Clifford Skakle.
More than 25 years ago, Jennifer Edmonson volunteered at the Cajun Classic, a wheelchair tennis tournament in Baton Rouge. Her role expanded to the USTA Southern Wheelchair Tennis Chair and then the USTA chair. Now, she takes on the role of US Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament Director. Talking about wheelchair tennis in collegiate tennis is Chuck McCuen, who coaches at Clemson University. He started the program at Georgia State, where he was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Our highlights include Isabella Graeber, winner of the Good Chase Sportsmanship Race, and Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Stephen Enochs and Robby Ginepri.
US Open preview: Martin Blackman on Gauff, Pegula, Fritz and Tiafoe
UNC champion Carson Tanguilig heads to US Open doubles main draw
It’s US Open time! USTA’s Martin Blackman previews the year’s last Grand Slam and breaks down the chances of Americans Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. Alpharetta, Georgia’s Carson Tanguilig won the NCAA women’s doubles title, earning her and Fiona Crawley wild cards in the US Open doubles main draw. The duo were on the North Carolina Tar Heels national championship team which defeated NC State in the team final. We feature twins from Metairie, Louisiana: Caroline and Thomas Melius and South Carolina Tennis Hall of Famers Ann Hunt and Mary Carlisle White Gambill.
What is your pursuit in the middle years of life? Two USTA Southern volunteers decided they wanted to talk about USTA League tennis. North Carolina residents Carolyn Roach and Erin Conigliaro named their podcast "Second Serve" and connect with thousands of listeners to their weekly conversation. Everything from rules to pet peeves to etiquette questions are covered with a sense of humor and humility. This time of year is about playing in the Southern heat. We go to our top tennis health expert: USTA Chairman of the Board and President Brian Hainline. Dr. Hainline serves as NCAA Chief Medical Officer and provides an extensive round-up of how to play when the temperature is challenging. We feature two Arkansans: junior Caroline Jones and Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Buddy Bowman.
The annual ATP Tour 250 tournament – the Atlanta Open – has the game’s breakout star Christopher Eubanks in the main draw. “Of course, he’s playing” says Tournament Director Peter Lebedevs about the Atlanta native and former Georgia Tech star who played only a few miles away from the Atlantic Station site. The Tech connection continues with the second tournament appearance by GT player Andres Martin. Kenny Thorne, the men’s coach, returns to the podcast to talk about the opportunities given to college players to compete on the ATP Tour. Our episode highlights are junior Juliana Diianni, of Marietta, Ga., USTA Southern Mickey McNulty Family of the Year winner, the Koch family of Abbeville, La., and the No-Cut Coach Starfish Award winner Jordan Johnson, of Pikeville, Ky.
With American players competing at the Big W in London, USTA Director, Player Development Martin Blackman tracks the preparation of up-and-coming pros in Florida and European warmup events. He proudly mentions four US players who now reside in the top 10: Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. Among the Southerners he profiled include Taylor Townsend, Ben Shelton, Christopher Eubanks and Tommy Paul. USTA women’s coach Jermaine Jenkins, Ga., zeros in on how to nurture high-level players with professional potential. Along with talking about his family - including brothers Jamere and Jackie, Jr. - from College Park, Georgia, he also described being the hitting partner of Venus Williams. We highlight junior Grace Stout, of Brentwood, Tennessee, and North Carolina Wesleyan’s Albie Brice, the 2023 USA South Coach of the Year.
Sone of the most exciting – and often overlooked – tennis matches are played on college campuses. These two coaches made their women’s teams among the best in the country. As Alabama’s women’s tennis coach, Jenny Mainz was named the 2013 ITA National Coach of the Year and won two NCAA Doubles Championships in 2014 & 2015. She offers a rich history of how Alabama women’s tennis rose from barely having a team to be one of the SEC best over her 26 years at the helm. Upon his retirement this year, Jeff Wallace was the winningest college coach in the country. His Bulldogs won NCAA titles in 1994 and 2000 along with four other national titles. He was named ITA National Coach of the year four times. He discusses the NCAA hosting three division championships at the USTA National Campus. We highlight junior Evan Duggal, of Lexington Ky., and the 100th anniversary of the West Louisville (Ky.) Tennis Club!
Amanda is a wife. A mother. A blogger. A Christian.
A charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest.
But Amanda is dying, with a secret she doesn’t want anyone to know.
She starts a blog detailing her cancer journey, and becomes an inspiration, touching and
captivating her local community as well as followers all over the world.
Until one day investigative producer Nancy gets an anonymous tip telling her to look at Amanda’s
blog, setting Nancy on an unimaginable road to uncover Amanda’s secret.
Award winning journalist Charlie Webster explores this unbelievable and bizarre, but
all-too-real tale, of a woman from San Jose, California whose secret ripped a family apart and
left a community in shock.
Scamanda is the true story of a woman whose own words held the key to her secret.
New episodes every Monday.
Follow Scamanda on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Amanda’s blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn.
