TENNIS.com Podcast

Co-hosts Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi give their take on what has stood out the most from a busy fortnight in Paris. There have been underhand serves and a surge in drop shots, shocking upsets and late-night marathons, and an unprecedented flurry of Cinderella runs.While some favorites are still alive in the Roland Garros draw, this year has been all about the unexpected—especially in the women's draw. Combined factors like the cold conditions, limited fans, the turbulent calendar and the lack of match play have opened up opportunities for new faces to go deep.One player that has really made a name for herself is Iga Swiatek, a teenager that Falconi played in 2018 before the Pole enjoyed her breakthrough. Falconi has also faced Nadia Podoroska, the world No. 113-ranked qualifier that has made history in Paris. Falconi gives her inside take on both rising stars, as well as looks ahead at what is coming next with another period of uncertainty looming in the calendar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Whenever we have a doubles team they are very good, but none of the coaches think of a second option as a doubles career, which is shame."With Roland Garros underway, Frenchman Fabrice Martin is the prefect guest to talk all things doubles and Paris. Ranked No. 23 in the world, he's teaming up with compatriot Jeremy Chardy and the duo are seeded No. 14. Last year, Martin and Chardy reached the final, marking their best career major performance. The dream run was made extra special by happening in front of a home crowd. While this year will be very different with limited fans and chilly temperatures, Martin is eager to keep doing what he loves on the biggest stages. Hailing from Bayonne, France, Martin's family relocated to Colombia and then settled in Bradenton, Fla. in 2001, where his mother is a school teacher at the IMG Academy. It made for a great base as Martin opted against college and pursued a career in both singles and doubles, while working on his surfing hobby. He'd get up to as high as No. 228 before focusing solely on doubles, beginning in 2016. The 34-year-old gives his candid take on why doubles isn't a priority in France, how other nations like Great Britain are doing it better, and how he has dealt with doubles specialist stigma.Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Whether I’m at Court 7 at Jack Puryear Park in St. Pete, Florida or I’m on Arthur Ashe at the US Open, I’m going to bring the same energy and effort."Danielle Collins joins the show this week to give her take on the new normal, reveal her off-court interests and explain why her famous competitive spirit won't be dimmed by a lack of fans. The American had humble beginnings growing up on public courts and she would opt for the college route partially due to family finances. She would start her college career in 2012 near home in Florida before transferring to the University of Virginia where she won the NCAA individual championships, twice. Currently ranked No. 57 in the world, Collins has made huge waves since breaking through in 2018—just a couple of years into her pro career. That year, she won a WTA 125K Series title and made two WTA semifinals to finish inside of the Top 50 for the first time. She carried that momentum right into 2019 when she enjoyed a memorable semifinal run at the 2019 Australian Open. Armed with a Bachelor's degree, Collins is dedicated to her education and has just enrolled in an online Master's program. With her eye on the future, the 26-year-old dives into her interest in sports management and explains why she thinks her unique skillset is valuable. Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I love my tennis identity. It's given me so much in life and it's part of who I am. I've worked so hard for everything I've done on court and I think I enjoy having that part of me."The TENNIS.com Podcast catches up with Caroline Wozniacki this week to talk about her retirement, the launch of Advantage Hers, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, her friendship with Serena Williams, her relationship with her dad, and a lot more.Wozniacki picked up 30 titles during a successful career that spanned 15 years. Turning pro at 15 in 2005, Wozniacki would skyrocket all the way to No. 1 by 2010 and finish as the year-end No. 1 two years in a row. An incredibly consistent performer, the Dane won at least one title every year from 2008 until 2018. She picked up her then-biggest title at the 2017 WTA Finals and followed that with her first Grand Slam title at the 2018 Australian Open.By that year's end, she revealed a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. She'd continue her career for another season before announcing her retirement and playing her final match in the third round of the 2020 Australian Open.Since leaving the tour, Wozniacki has jumped into a new post-tennis life that has involved filming a TV show that follows her up Mount Kilimanjaro, quarantining with her husband David Lee (a former NBA champion), working out a lot and preparing for commentary.She just launched Advantage Hers, an awareness and empowerment campaign for women living with chronic inflammatory diseases. As expected, Wozniacki has taken her signature positive attitude from the court into tackling inflammatory diseases.Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"This is what the Taste does, it brings people of all different cultures together to celebrate tennis and food and the cities that we’re in. It’s just cool to be a part of."This week brings Citi Taste of Tennis CEO Penny Lerner to the show to shed light on how the events industry is faring during the pandemic. In normal times, Lerner would have just held a lavish party in New York City to kick off the US Open with regulars like Serena and Venus Williams walking the red carpet.Lerner and her mother Judy are co-founders of AYS World, a sports marketing company that started Taste of Tennis over 20 years ago to give players a literal taste of the cities they are in with food from the best chefs in the world. Each year, the culinary-tennis extravaganza takes over Melbourne (new in 2020), Indian Wells, Miami, Washington, D.C. and New York (yet another new stop would have taken place in London).With COVID-19 decimating the dining and events worlds, Lerner had to adapt and so #WhatsinURKitchen was born. Players like Sofia Kenin, Sam Querrey, Alison Riske and the Bryan brothers jumped at the chance to virtually show off their cooking skills on Instagram. The pandemic has been brutal for chefs and event planners, but the silver lining is Lerner has developed even stronger relationships within the tight-knit tennis and chef community.Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I'm never really used to seeing people in the hotel especially not in New York because usually we all kind of do our own thing with where we stay. And now you see all these players and it’s such a big event that it’s just different so it’s kind of like our own little village."Ajla Tomljanovic joins the TENNIS.com Podcast from inside the New York City bubble. The world No. 57 has spent quality time at the official hotel and on site for the Western & Southern Open and US Open.Before arriving in New York, the 27-year-old had a busy summer training in Florida and playing a number of events including the UTR Pro Series in West Palm Beach, team tennis in Charleston and West Virginia, and WTA tournaments in Lexington and Cincinnati. As a Las Vegas Roller at World TeamTennis over the summer, Tomljanovic was one of the last players to compete alongside Bob and Mike Bryan and she shares how special that honor is.Given her match experience in 2020 she's grown accustomed to the new normal and explains how the lack of fans is harder as a spectator than a player. The Aussie also gives an inside look at how players are staying entertained in New York, what the pros and cons are of mask wearing, how she handled COVID-19 testing anxiety and what her secret weapon is for dealing with hot weather. Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I don’t want to be gone when important things are happening. So hopefully I can play for a few more years, but there’s going to be a side of me that probably will be more at home than he is on the road.”After a quick catch-up with Irina Falconi as she heads for the New York bubble, Nina Pantic chats with world No. 63 Stevie Johnson (interview starts at 7:07). The 30-year-old discusses his impending fatherhood and how that life milestone is going to impact his career.Admitting he needs a reason to stay motivated, the former University of Southern California star took 75 days off during the shutdown and has restarted his ATP season in New York. He played in exhibition events during the summer as well as the three-week-long season of World TeamTennis so he's not completely rusty.But no matter what happens on court next, what Johnson will remember his 2020 season for is becoming a parent. He and his wife Kendall will welcome a daughter in December. The growing family are moving into a new home in Manhattan Beach where Johnson plans to “live happily ever after.”Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"It was interesting trying to think about what to do after I got inside of 100; that was always my goal to get inside of 100. It took six years to do that for me. It was like what do I do now? Do I just move the marker to 50? Can I do that? Am I good enough? You just don't know."This week brings Tennys Sandgren to the show to talk about his career, the fallout he has dealt with, and what's next for him as the ATP tour restarts in New York (interview starts at 3:38).The world No. 55 spent the shutdown working on his drumming skills (he covered a few of his heavy metal favorites on Instagram), training in the gym, and getting valuable match play at World TeamTennis where his Orlando Storm squad made the playoffs.Sandgren gets into talking about his early tennis start, his college experience and his humble beginnings on the ITF tour. After three semesters at the University of Tennessee, he went pro in 2011 and enjoyed respectable success until a big breakthrough in 2018. That year, he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and soon after he'd crack the Top 50. Off the court, the Tennessee native faced backlash for his old tweets, and he discusses how that impacted his career and life.Sandgren would go on to win his first ATP title at the start of 2019 in Auckland and he gives listeners a candid take on what celebrations can be like on tour. This year, he reached the quarterfinals Down Under once again, complete with a dramatic loss to Roger Federer after holding seven match points. The 29-year-old is returning to the tour at the Western & Southern Open and US Open this month after having not played an ATP match since February.Watch this episode on YouTube or Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"If someone calls you and is like, 'Hey, do you want to be in Vogue, yes or no?' What are you going to do, say no? And tennis brought me that opportunity, so it’s like, of course, I'm a tennis player first and foremost, but it opened other doors."Eugenie Bouchard joins the show this week (interview begins at 8:28) and discusses juggling her playing career, her online presence and the off-court opportunities that have come her way.  After a successful season of World TeamTennis in West Virginia, Bouchard won her opening round in Prague on Monday over world No. 40 Veronika Kudermetova. It marked her first WTA victory since January and it's a winning performance that she's been patiently working toward. The Canadian spent the long shutdown in Las Vegas training with esteemed fitness coach Gill Reyes as well as living legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff. Though she's currently ranked No. 330, Bouchard is undeterred in her mission to keep improving at a job she's grateful to have.Once ranked as high as No. 5 in the world, Bouchard has been through a lot of ups and downs—including a 13-match losing streak in 2019—but her love and dedication for the game has never dimmed. It certainly shows in her willingness to compete hard anywhere, from an ITF W60 first round to the Wimbledon final.Since bursting onto the scene in 2014, Bouchard has picked up a huge fan base and learned a lot about herself while maturing in the public eye and tuning out the haters, particularly online. One of her tweets, a bet with a fan about the 2017 Super Bowl, is being turned into a movie that she's helping produce. She explains the details of the film, shares what her relationship status is with the fan (John Goehrke) and defends her choice to enjoy her life off the court to the absolute fullest. Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"My last year was so bad that actually, I'm not going to lie, it feels like this year is better."Daria Gavrilova joins the show to give everyone an update on her comeback and how the latest shutdown in Australia has impacted her plans.The 26-year-old explains why this year has been better for her than 2019, when injuries pushed her from starting at No. 34 to ending outside of the Top 200. In March, with her Achilles tendon fully rehabbed, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented her from playing her first scheduled tournament back.Off the court, the former world No. 20 has stayed busy by taking WTA University courses, making TikToks and playing with her dog Tofu. She shares how Tofu got his name, how her training is going and when she's going to marry her fiancé Luke Saville.Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices