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

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!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miguel is now 36 years of age, and remains very much in the discussions at the slams as a top 75 doubles player. The former Texas Longhorn talks about his long career as a doubles specialist, what made that decision for him, and how he views the long history of Mexican tennis.
We also get in to some of the ATP Player Council politics, namely how doubles gets more eyes (and money), where the ATP is on a domestic abuse policy, and whether Latin America will be getting a Masters Series event.
More next week!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices