Behind the Racquet Pod

Learner Tien is 18 years old, has a record of 53-9 this year, which now includes a total of 7 titles, including his third challenger title on Sunday in Fairfield, California.

We had a chat on Monday before the tournament had begun in full, and then we spoke again AFTER he won the title in 39 minutes and 07 seconds, 6-0, 6-1 over Bernard Tomic. Record setting on that one, becoming the shortest completed Challenger Final in history.

We talk about goals, THAT winning streak, and much more.

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Ethan Quinn is 20 years old, ranked 246 in the world, out of Fresno, California. He won the NCAA Singles title at Georgia in 2023.

On the eve of US Open qualies, he sat down with Mike to discuss his path out of Fresno, why he's a 40 year old in a 20 year old body, the slow and sometimes difficult progression in the pros, and his journey in to hip hop.

More (hopefully) next week.

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This week's guest is Nishesh Basavareddy, a 19 year old from Carmel, Indiana, currently ranked (as of July 29, 2024) 296 in the world. He's reached two Challenger Finals (Fairfield 2023 and Bloomfield Hills 2024) in his very young career, helped lead the Stanford Cardinal the last two seasons, and was ranked as high as #5 in the world as a Junior.

We talk his transition towards the pros, how he developed his pure ball striking, and his relationship with Rajeev Ram.

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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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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!

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