Behind the Racquet Pod

By Mike Cation & Noah Rubin/Tennis Channel Podcast Network

What's Behind the Racquet Pod about?

The Behind the Racquet Pod is the best glimpse you can get in to the ins and outs of professional tennis, told by its players, and voiced by Noah Rubin, and his podcast partner Mike Cation.

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Behind the Racquet Pod episodes:

05.06.2024
Behind the Racquet with Tristan Boyer
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...
04.29.2024
First Quarter Check In with Noah and Mike
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,...
04.15.2024
New Balance Winner's Circle with Thanasi Kokkinakis
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...
03.12.2024
Behind the Racquet with ATP Player Council Member Miguel Angel Reyes Varela
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...
03.04.2024
Behind the Racquet with Jill Craybas
Jill Craybas had an incredible playing career, as a top 40 player in both singles in doubles, a WTA singles title, 5 doubles titles. She's most well known for a win over Serena at Wimbledon in 2002. Since her career...
02.21.2024
Behind the Racquet with Eliot Spizzirri
First, apologies for some of Mike's audio issues in this one. Unfortunately, the wifi in his hotel this past weekend caused a few issues so we're going to ignore the fact that he sounds worse than normal, which is saying...
02.13.2024
Behind the Racquet with Aleks Kovacevic
Aleks Kovacevic sat down with Mike before the Dallas Open to discuss finally hitting top 100 after his run through qualies and in to the 2nd round of the Australian Open. At the time of publish, Kova is back outside...
02.05.2024
Behind the Racquet with Robert Galloway
31-year-old Robert Galloway is a top 50 doubles player from South Carolina. His path took him a different route than most. He was at the peak in the 12s, stepped away from the game, and found his way back as...
01.29.2024
Year 6; Episode 1. Noah Finally Returns; An AO Recap; What to do with Zverev
Only a month in to the year, we get back after it. Lots to get to, here's a rundown. Open- Mike's AO 12:00- Noah Returns to Professional Tennis 28:35- Australian Open Recap; We're in Good Hands 43:50- Quick outlandish predictions from Mike and Noah;...
12.14.2023
Behind the Racquet with Karue Sell
Karue Sell is a force to be reckoned with. After a successful junior career, and collegiate career, he took a year off, got to about 350 in the world after returning to tennis, stepped away from playing, became Naomi Osaka's...
12.11.2023
I Guess It's Time to do a Podcast Again?
We have a lotttttt to get to, so here are some chapter notes: 0:00 Mike beats Noah in Fantasy 3:30- Noah catches us up on where he's at tennis wise 10:30- Who does Noah most want to play 18:30- The Premiere Tour and why...
10.16.2023
Chats with the Champ: Zachary Svajda, Tiburon and Fairfield, 2023
Zach moves to ~139 in the rankings with a 10 match winning streak. This is a nice addendum to our full podcast, which is the previous one in your feed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.10.2023
Behind the Racquet with Zachary Svajda
Zachary Svajda is 20 years old from Southern California, currently ranked 170 in the world. This fall, he won the Cary Challenger, and this past Sunday, he won the Tiburon Challenger for the second straight year. We talk about his upbringing,...
10.02.2023
Behind the Racquet with Brian Koppelman
Brian Koppelman is a DEVOTED tennis fan, but you'll know him best for his involvement as Executive Producer and Showrunner for the Showtime series Billions, writer of Ocean's Thirteen and Rounders, and the director of the 30 for 30 episode...
09.18.2023
US Open Recap: Coco's Impact, Novak's advantage, and lay off the character assassination.
Lots to hit on this week: -Coco's win and its impact in the states -Novak remains way beyond the rest -Ben gets beat up, and it's completely unnecessary -Is the Halep suspension the tip of the iceberg? More next week! Learn more about your ad choices....
09.03.2023
Behind the Racquet with Bryan Shelton
Bryan Shelton is best known at this moment as Ben Shelton's Coach and Father. We chat about Ben's progress, where he can go, how far he's come, and how Bryan and his wife Lisa balanced athletics with "real life" for...
08.22.2023
Did We Just Become Best Friends?
Lots to catch up on from the last month. What a week in Cincy, with Coco taking the title, and THAT MATCH. We go in depth on Coco and her impact. We also try to tackle how to shorten the season, and is...
07.20.2023
Behind the Racquet with Wimbledon Quarterfinalist (!!!) Christopher Eubanks
The 27 year old Atlanta resident woke up from a well deserved nap to join us on Wednesday night, and go through how his life has changed in the span of 3 weeks with a first ATP title in Mallorca,...
07.18.2023
Chats with the Champ: Alex Michelsen, Chicago 2023
The 18-year-old defeated Yuta Shimizu on Sunday in Chicago to win his first Challenger title, and moved inside the top 200 for the first time. Along the way, he also defeated Li Tu, Aleks Kovacevic, Kei Nishikori, and Jerry Shang. Heckuva...
07.07.2023
Wimbledon Weather Warrants a Wrecap
Legit question, does anyone read this? Mike and Noah recap Christopher Eubanks' remarkable win in Mallorca, and then launch in to Wimbledon. The weather has been rough, the courts have been slow, and why the heck was Kontaveit not honored properly? Mike...
06.26.2023
Break Point Part 2, and Behind the Racquet with Alex Bolt
Noah spent the last several days fully analyzing the latest "part" of Break Point. He breaks it down for us, strengths and weaknesses, and we list who we think are the biggest misses from the "profiles" so far. We do a...
06.14.2023
French Open Recap, Blair Henley begins her Commentary takeover, and Alex Lawson knows flags
Alright, LOTS to get to. Mike and Noah discuss the big topics post RG, including Novak, Iga, Sabalenka's fake indignation, Miyu Kato, new #1 Austin Krajicek, and more... Then, we get in to Mike's talk with Blair Henley, who did some commentary...
06.12.2023
Winner's Circle with Nicolas Moreno De Alboran
Nicolas Moreno De Alboran defeated Mikhail Kukushkin in 3 grueling sets on Sunday in Tyler, Texas to win his second career Challenger title. Before he had to run to catch a flight, he chats with Mike about what it...
06.07.2023
Winner's Circle with Mark Lajal
Mike sat down with Mark Lajal after he won his first Challenger title at the UAMS Health Little Rock Open. The 20 year old became just the second Estonian to win an ATP Challenger title, behind Jurgen Zopp. ...
05.29.2023
Behind the Racquet with Alex Michelsen
18 year old Alex Michelsen (pronounced like the golfer) joins Mike on the eve of the Little Rock Challenger, where he'll attempt to have a decent week to get in to Wimbledon qualies. He's already reached a Challenger final in...
05.23.2023
The (nearing) Retirement Episode, with Bradley Klahn and Bjorn Fratangelo
With Rafael Nadal announcing he would miss Roland Garros, and (likely) shut it down at the end of 2024, Noah and Mike are joined by Bjorn Fratangelo and Bradley Klahn, two American veterans who are in the back end of...
05.16.2023
Expansion by Subtraction
Lots to catch up on for the boys this week. We start by answering Noah's question on whether the Alcaraz upset Monday shows that we haven't been respecting "The Big 3" enough. Are Carlos and Iga "Generational Talents?" Expectation, success, and hyperbole...
05.02.2023
Patrick Kypson wins the USTA Wild Card for Roland Garros
Patrick Kypson reached his second Challenger semifinal in 4 weeks in Savannah, and in doing so, he earned the USTA's reciprocal wild card to the French Open. But he had to sweat on Sunday, as Tristan Boyer could have surpassed...
04.24.2023
Zizou Bergs Wins The Tallahassee Challenger
Zizou Bergs is a 23 year old from Belgium who won the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger on Sunday in straight sets over Tung-Lin Wu. During the event, he didn't lose a single set, while clinching his fifth Challenger title. It was...
04.03.2023
Behind the Racquet with Christopher Eubanks
The 26-year-old from Atlanta sits down with the boys post Miami to talk about the process of getting to the top 100 for the first time in his career after his quarterfinal run. A huge achievement, so we discuss how...
03.20.2023
Behind the Racquet of Gender Finances with Jamie Loeb
Jamie Loeb rejoins the show to gives us the full details of what financial inequalities look like at the lower levels of tennis, after Denis Shapovalov helped bring it to light in his recent article. We got in to the...
03.14.2023
Behind the Racquet with Grant Chen
Grant Chen is now the Head Coach for the men's tennis team at SMU. He came to Dallas after a legendary run from the team manager for UCLA, all the way to Associate Head Coach. He also helps run the...
03.06.2023
Behind the Racquet with Mackenzie McDonald
Mackenzie "Mackie" McDonald is 27 years old from Northern California, ranked 53 in the world as of March 6th. He was the NCAA singles and doubles champion at UCLA in 2016, winning the doubles with Martin Redlicki (a former BTR...
02.27.2023
Behind the Racquet with Alexis Galarneau
Mike here- This pod got DRASTICALLY delayed (totally on me), but this pod was recorded in Melbourne immediately following qualifying, as Alexis was headed towards the airport. The guy is an incredibly hard worker, super positive, and it was fun...
02.07.2023
Why American men are making a push; AO TV miscues, Break Point, and a terrible record on Domestic Abuse
Hey all- In between interviews with Ernesto Escobedo, and Alexis Galarneau, the boys reconvened to chop up the American men at the AO, why the TV coverage was down, and the horrific record tennis is starting to set on domestic...
02.01.2023
Behind the Racquet with Ernesto Escobedo: Why he's now playing for Mexico
Have to preface all of this by noting that this was recorded the day after Neto qualified in Australia. As a result, it's important to note that it does not have any details regarding this week's Davis Cup news with...
12.17.2022
Re-Release: Ben Shelton following his third title in Champaign
Top 100 star Ben Shelton gave his thoughts on his whirlwind year, his three straight titles to end the year, his offseason, his girlfriend Anna, and Mike gets emotional because that's what you do at the end of the year. Learn...
12.09.2022
2022 Recap Pt 1: Davis Cup Kerfuffle, Misogyny, and an emotional end to the year
Quite an end to the year, although did the year ever really "end" A slew of exhibitions, Davis Cup distractions for the US, and really questionable (at best) words from a few top male stars. More next week. Learn more about your...
11.21.2022
Ben Shelton Wins. Again. Trophies, Wild Cards, Melbourne, and More.
Third in an unplanned series of interviews with Ben Shelton through his dramatic 2022 rise. I think I'm going to have to go back and listen at some point to this one, and the one I recorded with Chris Eubanks...
11.08.2022
Ben Shelton on his first Challenger title in Charlottesville
Mike here. I sat down with Ben immediately following his victory in straights over Christopher Eubanks to talk about playing against his close friend, his expectations for this stretch of tennis, and where he thinks he's most improved. Learn more about...
10.19.2022
Behind the Racquet with Sam Riffice
The always mature Sam Riffice joins Mike during his run to the semifinals in Fairfield, California. They talked about his childhood in Sacramento, his strong family structure, and what he's learned from his fiance, Cici Bellis. Learn more about your ad...
10.18.2022
Noah Reveals His New Path- Pickleball
Well, it was quite a revelation last week when Noah Rubin announced he'd start playing pickleball. He finally sits down with Mike to discuss the whys, the people who are rooting against him, and what tennis can learn from pickle. Learn...
10.17.2022
Michael Mmoh on his Seventh Challenger Title
It's a seventh Challenger title for Michael Mmoh in Fairfield, California. Immediately after taking home the title, he sat down with Mike to talk about what's changed to bring home his second trophy in two months. Learn more about your ad...
10.10.2022
Zachary Svajda Wins his First Challenger Title
Zachary Svajda won the Tiburon Challenger with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ben Shelton on Sunday. The 19-year-old grabbed his first Challenger title in the process, and has moved to roughly 255 in the world. It was a crazy match,...
09.27.2022
Fed, Foe, and Finally some Challenger Changes
We talk over Fed's retirement at the Laver Cup, the absolutely inexcusable abuse thrown toward Frances Tiafoe after he beat Fed in his final match. And we walk through some of the changes to the Challengers coming in 2023. TLDR:...
09.20.2022
Noah Rubin steps away. And so did some other guy.
Well now that the announcement is out there, Noah talks us through why he's stepping away from tennis, and what he'll miss most. We also talk about Fed's retirement decision, and what he's meant to both of us in our respective...
09.12.2022
US Open Recap; Where will the rivalries come from, and Mike's take on three straight five setters with Carlos
Recorded immediately preceding Carlos Alcaraz's victory in the men's singles final, Noah visits Mike in Queens to wrap up the Open. We talk rivalries The Happy Slam in New York And Carlos' impact. We get some takes on the PTPA, US Open Broadcast times,...
08.15.2022
Serena Says Goodbye, and Make Mike Best Man 2024
We start with Noah's engagement, as our lil boy is all done growed up. But the real story is Serena Williams' retirement announcement. We discuss that, how she has impacted tennis, and our lives; and why this year has become a...
07.28.2022
Behind the Racquet with Enzo Couacaud with Guest Host Christopher Eubanks
Guest Host Christopher Eubanks guides us through the career of French tennis star Enzo Couacaud, and take you Behind the Racquet to tell you his story. Things get interesting when they start talking about the French generation of Monfils, Tsonga, Gasquet...
07.24.2022
Yibing Wu on winning three straight titles on the USTA Pro Circuit
One of the more remarkable runs I've witnessed on the USTA Pro Circuit over the last 9 years. Yibing Wu lost 2 sets in 15 straight wins. He's moved from 1741 to 174 in the ATP rankings since returning to...

What's Behind the Racquet Pod about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Behind the Racquet Pod episodes:

Behind the Racquet with Tristan Boyer

First Quarter Check In with Noah and Mike

New Balance Winner's Circle with Thanasi Kokkinakis

Behind the Racquet with ATP Player Council Member Miguel Angel Reyes Varela

Behind the Racquet with Jill Craybas

Behind the Racquet with Eliot Spizzirri

Behind the Racquet with Aleks Kovacevic

Behind the Racquet with Robert Galloway

Year 6; Episode 1. Noah Finally Returns; An AO Recap; What to do with Zverev

Behind the Racquet with Karue Sell

I Guess It's Time to do a Podcast Again?

Chats with the Champ: Zachary Svajda, Tiburon and Fairfield, 2023

Behind the Racquet with Zachary Svajda

Behind the Racquet with Brian Koppelman

US Open Recap: Coco's Impact, Novak's advantage, and lay off the character assassination.

Behind the Racquet with Bryan Shelton

Did We Just Become Best Friends?

Behind the Racquet with Wimbledon Quarterfinalist (!!!) Christopher Eubanks

Chats with the Champ: Alex Michelsen, Chicago 2023

Wimbledon Weather Warrants a Wrecap

Break Point Part 2, and Behind the Racquet with Alex Bolt

French Open Recap, Blair Henley begins her Commentary takeover, and Alex Lawson knows flags

Winner's Circle with Nicolas Moreno De Alboran

Winner's Circle with Mark Lajal

Behind the Racquet with Alex Michelsen

The (nearing) Retirement Episode, with Bradley Klahn and Bjorn Fratangelo

Expansion by Subtraction

Patrick Kypson wins the USTA Wild Card for Roland Garros

Zizou Bergs Wins The Tallahassee Challenger

Behind the Racquet with Christopher Eubanks

Behind the Racquet of Gender Finances with Jamie Loeb

Behind the Racquet with Grant Chen

Behind the Racquet with Mackenzie McDonald

Behind the Racquet with Alexis Galarneau

Why American men are making a push; AO TV miscues, Break Point, and a terrible record on Domestic Abuse

Behind the Racquet with Ernesto Escobedo: Why he's now playing for Mexico

Re-Release: Ben Shelton following his third title in Champaign

2022 Recap Pt 1: Davis Cup Kerfuffle, Misogyny, and an emotional end to the year

Ben Shelton Wins. Again. Trophies, Wild Cards, Melbourne, and More.

Ben Shelton on his first Challenger title in Charlottesville

Behind the Racquet with Sam Riffice

Noah Reveals His New Path- Pickleball

Michael Mmoh on his Seventh Challenger Title

Zachary Svajda Wins his First Challenger Title

Fed, Foe, and Finally some Challenger Changes

Noah Rubin steps away. And so did some other guy.

US Open Recap; Where will the rivalries come from, and Mike's take on three straight five setters with Carlos

Serena Says Goodbye, and Make Mike Best Man 2024

Behind the Racquet with Enzo Couacaud with Guest Host Christopher Eubanks

Yibing Wu on winning three straight titles on the USTA Pro Circuit