"It's great tennis. However, it's so much more than tennis. We have dining from all over the area. We have concerts. We have free events. There's just so much going on."

The TENNIS.com Podcast's Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi are in Midland, Mich. this week at the ITF W100 Dow Tennis Classic. They sit down with tournament director Talaya Schilb to talk all things Midland, and also recap the Australian Open.

Schilb is a first-time tournament director, but she's not new to the Greater Midland Tennis Center, having worked there since 2004. She explains what makes the week so special as the community rallies around the players, providing housing, sponsorship support and attending the matches by the hundreds.

The Australian Open just wrapped and Falconi gives the lowdown on what it was like to be in Melbourne for qualifying when the air quality was at its worst. The co-hosts also break down what is so unique about Sofia Kenin's fighting spirit, if touching an umpire's shoe is really that serious, and why Ashleigh Barty brought her baby niece into press.

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

Talaya Schilb on what brings pro players to Michigan in the winter