Welcome to the 11th season and 129th episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast, todays show is brought to you by

Ellesse, the Italian brand from Peruggia made legendary by Chris Evert, Guillermo Vilas and Boris Becker.

We are on the ground at The Italian Open and we have a special show for you. Francesco Passaro was born and raised in Peruggia, Italy, and in 2022 he went from 600 in the world to qualifying for the Nextgen finals, and this year cracked the top 100 for the first time. He is a wildcard here in Rome and we talked about his career and Italian tennis in length from the players lounge.

Recorded and Released on 5.5.25

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The Romanian Virginia Ruzici was one of the stars of tennis' Golden Age, becoming a global superstar in 1978 when she won the French Open. She rode a heavy forehand to 8 in the world in 1979, won 12 tournaments over the course of her career, and together with the bombastic Ilie Nastase and the svengali Ion Triac was ominpresent in tennis. She parlayed her playing career into a role at IMG, where she discovered Anna Kournikova. She managed Simona Halep for the majority of her career, and we talked in length about that.

She was synonymous with the legendary Italian brand Ellesse, when the players were seemed to have more fun galavanting around the globe, playing and partying and playing some more. We talked about her life in and around tennis, and what a tale it was.

Recorded 5.1 and Released 5.3

This episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is brought to you by Ellesse

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I met Rex Kulman and his father Guy when he was 8 years old at the Oracle Challenger in 2020, just days before the world quarantined.

Five years later Rex is an elite 13 year old player, approaching a 10 UTR, is home schooled, and is coached full time by Diego Moyano, the former coach of Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe, respectively. Rex has trained at McEnroe Academy, Mouratoglou Academy, as well as the USTA's campus in Lake Nona and in Queens.

Most recently Rex played in ITF Junior tournaments in Havana and Jamaica, and we talked about it all.

His unique life in tennis is fascinating, and I hope every parent and child in tennis has a listen.

Recorded 4.28 Released 4.30

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In 2015 Anna Blinkova made the finals of Junior Wimbledon, and in 2016 began her life on the WTA Tour. She has been as high as 34 in the world and is now ranked 78. She has posted wins over Caro Garcia, Jess Pegula, Emma Navarro, and in Australia in 2024 she beat the defending champion Elena Rybakina 22-20 in the 3rd set Superbreaker, the longest tie breaker in WTA history.

Fluent in 5 languages, remarkably eloquent and thoughtful, Anna was extremely forthcoming and painted an interesting picture of what life is like on tour.

Recorded 4.4 released 4.6

The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is coming to Rome

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Dyan Castillejo and I met over 10 years ago covering the prizefighter Manny Pacquiao's career all around the globe, but it was in 2014 I saw her hitting some balls with her son in the parking lot of The Wild Card Gym in Hollywood- Manny's training camp in the US. It was then I realized that she had lived a special life in tennis. She is the first Filipino woman to have attained a WTA ranking. With the emergence of Alex Eala I thought there was no one better to learn about that unique and exciting situation, and Dyan didn't disappoint.

Recorded 4.1 Released 4.2

The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Coming to Rome

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Mats Wilander had 4 majors before his 21st birthday, and finished an illustrious career with 33 tournament victories, 7 major titles, the year end #1 in 1988, 3 Davis Cups, and we had a world class chat from the VIP Patio at The Arizona Tennis Classic, the coolest tennis tournament in the Americas. Mats and I covered Fonseca, Alcaraz, Nishikori, the Sinner debacle, Colton Smith, and a whole lot more.

Recorded 3.15, released 3.16

The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Going To Rome

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Dr Zach Thomas and I got back onto the mic to discuss all the things we need to know about our feet. Orthotic, ankle braces, and of course, the shoes. We played the hits as well as the more obscure one hit wonders, the sublime to the ridiculous.

He recently dissected a pair of Rafa's actual; shoes and we discussed it all.

Recorded 2.14 Released 2.17

The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Going To Rome

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The comedian and former world #864 Michael Kosta and I met in Paris a couple years ago, and courtesy of Tennis Channel sat court side on Philippe Chatrier one evening. Two years after our chance meeting he is one of the hosts of The Daily Show and has a memoir entitled Lucky Loser rolling out next month. We ran thru the 5 set format and we talked in length about his significant and fascinating life in tennis and how he pivoted from grinding on the tour to becoming a comedian. We talked about his time at Illinois, turning pro, and then making the U-turn into comedy. Michael was extremely forthcoming with his experience and there are a lot of lessons imparted. I really enjoyed this Shapsterclass.

Recorded and Released 2.10.25

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Learn more about Michael Kosta here

The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Going To Rome

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He's been a player, a coach, a Davis Cup Captain and has the distinction of organizing arguably the biggest exhibition tennis event in history. John Laffnie De Jaeger cheated death when he was born and has gone on to have an incredible life in tennis. We discussed the Australian Open, in particular the behind the scenes happenings that have made the event elite. We talked about the level of the tennis we've seen, and we discussed his origin story. John explained the challenges of being a South African player, and really painted a picture of what South African tennis was like in it's heyday.

John explained what it was like to win The Huggy Bear, and told us a great story about sorting out the Match For Africa, when Roger played Rafa in a massive rugby stadium.

Recorded 1.20 Released 1.22

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We sat down with the Tunisian Davis Cupper Aziz Dougaz in the lounge at The NTC, a couple days after he lost his 1st round match against Yoshihito Nishioka, and the Tunisian world #219 did not disappoint.

The 27 year old former FSU player came thru qualies and played in his first main draw major, his elbow taped up, and was literally waiting for his winnings to hit his bank account as we were talking. but that is just the beginning. We discussed his path to this moment, from Tunisia to Morocco to France and then to Tallahassee.

We discussed the lack of support he has gotten, and how the scales are tipped against players that do not have vigorous federations, as well as why he has an optimistic view of his prospects for the future.

Recorded 1.16 Released 1.18

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