The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast Craig Shapiro

Just a few days after his player Kei Nishikori retired with a shoulder injury the second round of Roland Garros, coach Thomas Johannson joined me from his home in Monaco, where he has lived for the past 25 years. He actually shared with me some cool information about living there.
We discussed the conditions at the French, the issue that popped up this week of unruly fans, and talked in length about the players remaining in the men's draw. We talked about Rafa and his prospects moving forward. We talked about coaching at this moment in time and what that's like, and we talked about the dramatic downturn in Swedish tennis.
The former world #7 who had blitzed through the 2002 Australian Open draw and defeated Marat Safin in the final explained how a win vs the Moroccan Younes El-Aynoui put him on a path toward that major victory.
Recorded 5.3 Released 5.4
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Since 1974, Ubaldo Scanagatta has been among the most significant Italian tennis broadcasters and journalists on the planet. When Novak Djokovic mimicked his glorious Italian accent the tennis community was alerted in mass to this man, however for 40 years, Ubaldo, with Rino Tommasi and Gianni Clerici were the voices of Italian tennis, creating lingo and lexicon, for example a “Veronica” and a “Circoletto Rosso”, and we discussed it all. It was tremendous fun, and absolutely fascinating.
His media outlet, UBI TENNIS is prolific in tennis, and his website is offered in Italian, Spanish, and English.
Ubaldo and I discussed Sinner's injury and Giorgi's retirement, as well as Berrettini's injury problems. He talked about the success of Italian tennis and the young junior Federico Cina. He gave a thorough explanation of Tennis Australia's fight against the Saudi incursion, as well as the current situation with Novak Djokovic.
Ubaldo discussed the history, and current state of tennis media.
Recorded 5.15 Released 5.19
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I sat down with Grigor Dimitrov in his hotel in Rome just a couple days ago and Grigor discussed his feelings about the future machinations of The ATP Tour and the players' disdain of the long tournaments, his Lacoste deal, the sore subject of his Vapor 9s, his racquet secrets, and his beginnings in Bulgaria.
Recorded 5.8 Released 5.10
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With pro tennis at an ominous crossroads, the great Stan Smith and I had an important chat that was a mix of a walk down memory lane as well as a pointed conversation about tennis' potential next steps. Stan opined on the USTA's budget cuts as well as the impending Saudi incursion into our sport, and what it means for the smaller tournaments like Bastaad, Gstaadt, and Vienna. And to that point we talked about The Ojai and how important that small tournament was to his career. We discussed college tennis and how the new rules regarding NIL are hurting the competitiveness of many schools. We talked about his documentary, Who Is Stan Smith, and it's theatrical release next week.
Recorded and Released on 5.26
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The Hall of Famer Rosie Casals and I had a world class chat, as it was a real honor to have the former world #3 and one of The Original 9 players that created the WTA on the show. Rosie talked about what it was like growing up in tennis in San Francisco was like, and how Billie Jean King showed her how to become a more disciplined athlete, and how the Virginia Slims media training was pivotal in the formation of the WTA. She shared her front row experience before, during, and after The Battle of The Sexes, and it was an incredible history lesson.
She was plain speaking and shared her views on the current state of the WTA as well as the budget cuts made by the USTA, and how the players need to do a better job promoting the WTA and the tournaments. Class was in session.
Recorded 4.17 Released 4.23
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Like many players on tour, John Millman has had an incredible journey in tennis. The youngest of 5, he was snubbed by Tennis Australia as a junior and used that as motivation to grind, and he went to Europe as an 18 year old. It wasn't until after his 2nd shoulder surgery that he cracked the top 100.
In 2018 he beat Roger Federer in the 4th round at the US Open and that October he was 33 in the world.
We talked about his career, and what retirement has been like.
He sat on the player council at the ATP, and we discussed the crunch time decision that tennis faces in the coming weeks with regards to the PIF.
Recorded 4.17 Released 4.18
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