Pete Bodo on the past, present and future of tennis journalism

"What's a little bit sad now really is that there's pressure to produce a lot, there's the pressure to produce almost on a 24-hour cycle, if you fall into it, certainly during the majors. And there's less and less engagement and human interaction [with] the players."

Reporter and author Pete Bodo joins the TENNIS.com Podcast this week to talk the past, present and future of tennis journalism with co-hosts Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi.  

With nearly five decades of experience, Bodo has seen icons and eras come and go, and gives his take on how the sport will fare once the Big Three retires, and if Coco Gauff is the real deal. He got his start writing in the early 1970s in the heart of the tennis boom (the first match he covered on the road was Rod Laver vs. Ken Rosewall).

In the peak of print journalism, Bodo spent quality time—often days—with the likes of Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Boris Becker and many more legends of the game, just to write features. He describes an era of media that relied heavily on real-life player and writer relationships, not Tweets and Instagram likes. Like everyone, Bodo has had to adapt with the changing of the times, especially the increasing limitations on player access and the explosion of social media.

Bodo is also author of multiple books including The Courts of Babylon (1995), A Champion's Mind: Lessons From A Life In Tennis, with Pete Sampras (2008) and Roger Federer: The Man, The Matches, The Rivals (2013). 

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