The Tennis Files Podcast

On today's episode I had the pleasure of speaking with three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Ram. Andy won the 2006 Wimbledon mixed doubles championship, the 2007 mixed French Open title, and the 2008 Australian Open men's doubles championship. He retired in 2014 after Israel's Davis Cup match in September, and soon after became an entrepreneur in the tennis world. Andy is the co-founder and CEO of Pulse Play, a wearable technology and app for amateur tennis players around the world. Pulse Play has come out with a tennis smart watch that helps players keep score, find other players to play with, and ranks players based on a complex mathematical algorithm. The best part of Pulse Play is that Andy created it knowing what tennis players would want in a smartwatch. After all, he made a living playing the game and knows it inside and out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode, Mulumba from Tennis Column and I discuss the 2016 Citi Open championship matches and recap our thoughts about the players' performances. This year's tournament brought us a lot of fantastic matches and showcased the talent of many of the best tennis players in the world. We had a blast attending and analyzing the tennis matches this year! We speak about the epic Monfils-Karlovic match, a very tight men's doubles final between two elite teams, and some fantastic tennis from Yanina Wickmayer, who took home two titles this weekend! We discuss match strategy, tactics, how the pros can improve their games to take it to the next level, and we even talk about Federer's big announcement and Nick Kyrgios's obsession with Pokemon Go (gotta catch 'em all, right?)! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, I spoke with Mulumba from Tennis Column about the action at the 2016 Citi Open up to the 2nd day of the main draw (Tuesday). I met him last year in the media tent at the Citi Open. It was the first time both of us reported on the event, and I was extremely impressed by Mulumba's knowledge. Fast-forward to 2016, and I knew Mulumba would be the perfect person to talk about the matches at the Citi Open. I asked Mulumba about his thoughts on the performances of several players in the tournament so far. You'll hear everything from interesting backstories on players, to technical critiques, and our picks for who will win the Citi Open this year. I plan on connecting with Mulumba again for another episode during the tournament. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest on today's show is Stephen Warboys. Stephen became the #1 Junior player in the world and peaked at #73 on the ATP Tour. Throughout his career, Stephen has gone head-to-head against some of the biggest legends to ever play the game, including Jimmy Connors, Guillermo Vilas, Bjorn Borg, and Ilie Nastase. Stephen is currently a Head Tennis Professional at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club. He took the job after his professional career and has been there since 1986. Stephen retired at the age of 22 after turning pro when he was 16. Despite what many consider to be a short career, Stephen consistently competed at the highest level of the game against hall of fame players. He also reached the Junior Wimbledon final and the top of the junior ranks in 1971. Stephen was born in Essex (UK) and currently resides in Toronto. I first heard about Stephen when listening to him commentate on TSN's International Sports Report radio show. Stephen's expertise is a great asset to the show, and once I heard

Today I spoke with Scott Baxter, CEO and Founder of PlayYourCourt.  Scott is a USPTA certified tennis coach with over 12 years of coaching experience.  He used his problem solving skills and passion for tennis to create a unique platform to help you find the right coach for your tennis game. By entering your location and answering […] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I spoke with ATP Pro Junior Ore on Episode 22 of The Tennis Files Podcast. I first met Junior at the Aspen Hill Club when he was 7 years old. Everyone at the club knew that he was a very unique talent who loved tennis and could make it to the highest levels of the sport. Fortunately, he has proved us right (thanks, Junior!). Junior has always had an extremely strong passion for the game. Since Junior was 5, his dream was to become a professional tennis player. He set high goals, committed to achieving them, and is now playing and beating pros all around the world. I had the great pleasure of seeing Junior at the US Open Sectional Qualifying tournament at the Junior Tennis Champions Center a couple weeks ago. I had not seen Junior for over a decade, although I kept track of how he was doing in college and recently on the pro tour. I ended up playing against him, and his serve was the biggest that I've ever played against. Even more impressive than his game, though, was how much of a class act he was both on

On today's episode, I discuss my experience playing in my first professional tennis tournament, an ITF Futures event. Challenging yourself is the best way to improve yourself, and I had a blast testing my game against world-class competition. I learned a lot about Futures events and what it takes to be successful at this level. In particular, I discuss how you sign-up for these events, how you can get into them, the different lists that players are placed on, and what I learned from playing in this tournament. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I spoke with Dan Waldman, a world champion tennis player. Dan, who is 60 years old, regularly competes in national and international tennis tournaments and ends up winning most of them. Despite working as an attorney at Arnold and Porter, Dan is also dedicated to his tennis and his training. This is why he continues to tear it up on the Senior Circuit. Dan talked to me about his training and tennis playing frequency, the importance of stretching, his diet, his experiences playing tennis for Harvard University alongside current Harvard Tennis Coach Dave Fish, and playing professional tournaments. I know this interview will help a lot of you, especially those in your 50s and beyond. I have received many emails and comments about how to successfully compete as you get older. Dan, a world champion singles and doubles player, shows us what it takes to be the best no matter what your age is! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's episode, I discuss 7 reasons that caused me to lose my match in a men's open tournament this past weekend. Analyzing your losses and figuring out what to improve is one of the most important things you can do for your tennis game. After I lost, I was more motivated than ever to ramp up my training and play better tennis. I walked through my matches in the tournament and discovered 7 crucial mistakes that I made before and during my match against the #4 seed. Despite our best intentions, we don't always perform our best and end up losing matches, but as long as we can take away something positive from our experience and commit to taking bold action to develop our tennis game, we have won. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest on The Tennis Files Podcast is master racquet technician Tim Strawn. Tim is the Executive Director of The International Alliance of Racquet Technicians. He has an extensive amount of stringing and racquet knowledge, and has strung racquets at some of the best professional tournaments in the world, including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Sony Ericsson Open. Tim created the grandslamstringers.com website and message board, which evolved into the International Alliance of Racquet Technicians. He also put together the annual IART Symposium to bring all those currently working or interested in the racquet and string industry together to enhance their knowledge and expertise. Tim was also the Racquet Sports Industry's 2007 Stringer of the Year. Tim was kind enough to tell us how we can choose the right strings to suit our racquet and our tennis game. He went into detail about the different types of strings, the right tension and gauge to have them strung, and common pitfalls that stringers and p

My guest today is my friend and ATP coach Othmane Garma. Othmane coaches Treat Huey, who with Max Mirnyi, is the #3 doubles team in the world. Treat is ranked #26 on the ATP doubles tour and he spoke with me on Episode 7 of The Tennis Files Podcast. I first met Othmane as a junior player in the Mid-Atlantic area. Othmane was a tough and powerful junior and college player whose love for the game pushed him towards the coaching profession. On the show, Othmane and I discussed how he got into coaching, the role of coaches, and his experiences on the ATP Tour. Othmane also gave us a ton of fantastic information about how to play optimal doubles for club players up to the professional level. We analyzed Treat's progression and how he was able to push his way to the top levels of the ATP doubles tour. Othmane is also an entreprenuer: OG (Othmane's nickname) and another friend of mine, Farshad Garakani, created an awesome platform, Courtplay, to help players find coaches and schedule lessons online. Othmane an

My guest today is ATP Pro Jesse Witten. Jesse has been ranked as high as #163 in the world and reached the 3rd round of the 2009 US Open, where he took a set off tennis superpower Novak Djokovic. Jesse has also played in the main draws of the French Open and Wimbledon. He reached the final of the NCAA Division I Championships as a freshman at the University of Kentucky and was its first 5-time ITA All-American (4 singles, 1 doubles). I first noticed Jesse back in the juniors when he played and won a Super National Clay Court tournament in Maryland in 1999. It was my first time watching the best juniors in the country play against each other, and I witnessed him dominate the entire field. I was fortunate enough to play in this event two years later, but Jesse's performance always stuck in my mind as the best I had ever seen by a junior tennis player. I was fortunate enough to speak to Jesse about his career, from reaching the top ranks of the juniors, to how he developed into an elite tennis professional. H

Today's guest is rising WTA tennis pro Sophie Chang. At only 18 years of age, Sophie reached career high rankings of #569 in singles and #283 in doubles this week. Sophie is very well-spoken, intelligent, and mature beyond her years. We discussed how she went from not winning a match as a 7 year-old when she first started competing to becoming a top-ranked junior and then a professional tennis player. Sophie also talked to me about her training, diet, and how she deals with the ups and downs on the USTA Pro Circuit. I found out about Sophie when several of my friends shared clips of her playing and training on social media. I also realized that Sophie is originally from Maryland, my home state, and immediately knew that I wanted her to be a guest on The Tennis Files Podcast. Sophie is an amazing talent and I expect to see great things from her in the future! There is a ton of great information in this episode that you can use to improve your mindset, training, and your tennis game. Learn more about your a

My guest today is Jeff Rothschild, a Registered Dietitian (RD) and NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with a Master’s degree in Nutritional Science. Jeff’s clients include Mike Bryan, Stefan Kozlov, and James Valentine from Maroon 5. He has also worked with other elite ATP and NCAA tennis players, endurance athletes, boxers, swimmers, and a number of touring musicians at TriFit in Santa Monica, CA. On this episode, Jeff gives our audience a ton of amazing advice about nutrition, sleep, meal timing, protein bars, supplements, and hydration. You will take your game to the next level if you follow Jeff’s tips about preparing your body to perform at its best. Jeff also has a fantastic website at http://www.eatsleep.fit and has authored several scientific papers that have been published in peer-reviewed nutrition and food science journals. He has presented his research at national nutrition conferences. Jeff spent five years as the assistant tennis coach at CSU Los Angeles and helped the

Today I host a solo episode discussing an aspect of tennis that is widely ignored and severely underutilized: pre-match strategy. Tennis players often arrive to a match without thinking through the strategies and point patterns which will maximize their success on the court. Players should always consider the strengths and weaknesses of their own game, their opponent's game, and formulate a strategy based on these considerations that will give them the best chance to win the match. A pre-match gameplan will serve as your roadmap to success and guide you on how you need to play against your opponent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Episode 12 of The Tennis Files Podcast, I spoke with Dave Fish, coach of Harvard University Men's Tennis, about the Universal Tennis Rating system (UTR). UTR provides tennis players worldwide a common scale to determine their level of play based on actual match results without regard for age, gender or where the matches are played. Dave also discussed audience-submitted questions regarding what it is like to be on the Harvard Men's Tennis Team. The UTR system helps facilitate more competitive matches and gives players a more accurate way of determining their skill level. Even John McEnroe is a fan of UTR because of its ability to provide players with more competitive local-based matchplay. With UTR, tennis players can compare their skill level with other players from all around the world. UTR is not only a wonderful resource for tennis players, but it helps coaches, parents, tennis associations and tournament directors more accurately gauge players' tennis abilities based on UTR's 16 level-scale. Colleg

Allistair McCaw is today's guest on The Tennis Files Podcast. Allistair is a world class sports performance specialist and owner of The McCaw Method. He has trained some of the best tennis players in the world, including Kevin Anderson, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Xavier Malisse, Bernard Tomic, and Jelena Dokic. Allistair talks about the importance of setting standards when working with athletes and parents, and how playing other sports will make us better tennis players. He explains that we first have to focus on the fundamentals and then take care of the "one-percents" to maximize our athletic capabilities. Allistair also answers several audience questions on injuries, imbalances, recovery, training, and dealing with the heat. Thanks to Allistair for being on the show, and for teaching us the principles that we must follow to achieve athletic and personal excellence. His passion and energy for making people better is something that every athlete, coach, and parent can learn from. Take Allistair's advice to hear

Doug Neagle, Head Coach of the Towson University Women’s Tennis Program, talked to me about the recruiting process, important rules that parents, coaches, and players must follow, and the keys to getting a scholarship to play college tennis. You will learn about eligibility, the best way to communicate with coaches, how scholarships are given to players, and excellent resources to help you navigate your way through the complex path of college tennis recruiting and scholarships. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ATP Pro Jason Jung is ranked #245 in the world. He is a regular on the Challenger Tour and is working hard to make the main draws of ATP and Grand Slam events. Jason spoke with me about his junior career, college tennis, and his plans to reach the next level in his tennis career. He also answered several questions from TFP listeners. Jason discussed his love for competition, how he dominated in the juniors, and how his decision to play tennis for the University of Michigan helped better prepare him to become a professional tennis player. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ATP Pro Collin Johns talks about his experiences playing on the Futures Tour. Futures events are lower-tier professional tournaments where tennis players grind out wins to move up in the rankings. Collin has picked up ATP points in Futures events all over the world, including places like South Africa, Nicaragua, Israel, and Mexico.  Collin spoke to me about the difficulties, expenses, and problems that he faces playing these Futures events. Collin also told me how he got his start playing tennis, his junior career, his unique training methods, and how he went from a 3-star recruit to competing and winning against the best players in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices