Behind the Racquet Pod Mike Cation & Noah Rubin/Tennis Channel Podcast Network

Lots to recap here, in this pod recorded slightly before the women's final at Wimby. We discuss
-The slowing of the grass courts
-Paolini is great, but she shouldn't have two straight GS finals
-Panic at the (Challenger) Disco
-Wild Cards tbd at the Open. Guess yours!
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Cooper Williams is an 18 year old originally from New York City. He's currently ranked 1250 on the ATP Tour, but this summer he will no doubt see a massive jump in that part. It's inevitable. He's a former junior world #3, and was a top 10 collegiate talent this past spring at Harvard. That includes an Australian Open doubles title with Learner Tien.
This summer is an important one for Cooper, as he explores the professional tour and sees where he fits in. We certainly expect some big things, and it was great to have him join us on the pod to talk about his transition in to college, what he expects this summer, and shockingly, what Noah meant to his career!
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Marcus Willis is a 33 year old from Slough, Great Britain, ranked 116 in the world. He is a 5 time (at this moment) Challenger doubles champion.
Once, he made it to the second round of Wimbledon.
Those two sentences don't begin to sum up the man with some of the best hands in tennis. Marcus sat down with Mike and Noah to talk about THAT run to Wimbledon, THAT episode with the RC Cola and a snickers bar, and also how those big moments have been mixed with some really trying times, both externally, and some self made issues.
As you'd expect with a Brit once nicknamed Cartman, there's a lot of hysterical stories, some introspection, and we get it all on this week's BTR Pod.
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First, unfortunately, Mike's mic shut down in recording, so as the least important person on the pod (Noah and Tristan agree on this)..his voice will sound shaky today.
Tristan Boyer is a 23 year old out of Southern California, ranked 231 in the world. In a few weeks, he'll play in Roland Garros qualifying for the first time in his career, just his second career grand slam appearance (after the US Open Qs last year). Just over one year ago, he was ranked 1500 in the world heading in to the green clay Challengers in the states, and reached the Savannah final to really start his professional career.
We talked with Tristan about his more unique training in South American, his departure from Stanford, and what he's focusing on as his career gets underway in earnest.
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Noah is back from his honeymoon, so we do a catchup on some recent topics
Namely the potential tour restructure. What does it mean for the Challengers?
We get a honeymoon recap from Noah, how to best interact with fans, Danielle Collins, and a resurgent Rafa and what that means.
More with Tristan Boyer next week.
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Thanasi Kokkinakis sat down with Mike after winning the Elizabeth Moore Sarasota Open, his 6th Challenger Title. We talk about his return to the top 100, and guaranteeing himself a spot in the French Open main draw with a week on an injured foot. He battled tough conditions, tough opponents, and the weight of that main draw throughout the week, and is now headed on his European summer trip.
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