The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast

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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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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G'Day My Friends,

We are in Melbourne, it's day 4 of the Australian Open, and Ben Rothenberg and I sat down at The Collins Hotel to discuss the fortunes of Naomi Osaka, the plight of Nick Kyrgios, the rise of Joao Fonseca, the Elena Rybakina controversy, the issue of the positive tests of Swiatek and Sinner, the impending sale of Tennis Channel, and the latest on the Saudi takeover of tennis. It is everything you need.

Recorded and Released on 1.15

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Eric Korita grew up in Chicago and found his way to Nick Bolletierri's 1st academy, where he honed his craft and battled with Paul Annacone, Pablo Arraya, and Jimmy Arias, to name a few. He then went to SMU to play for the great Dennis Ralston, and then he made his mark on the pro tour. He is considered to be one of the legendary servers in the history of our sport, having been clocked at 153 in Tokyo, and clocked over 140 many times. He had deals with Prince and Sergio Tacchini, and was considered to be a major blue chip, hyper dangerous threat. We discussed his incredible life in tennis. Class is in session with one of the most interesting people in tennis.

Recorded 10.13 Released 10.16

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Angelica Gavaldon has lived a difficult and amazing life in tennis. She grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, was a highly touted junior, and blasted onto the scene in 1990 when she qualified and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Along with Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis she was identified as a blue chip prospect and the pressure of being on tour affected her right from the beginning. After the tremendous success at the 1990 Aussie the 16 year old t was burnt out and took a self imposed extended break.

She worked her way back and in 1995 repeated the feat, qualifiying and then quartering The 1995 Australian Open. She got to 34 in the world in 1996, and over the course of her career posted wins over great champions including Novotna, Graf, Mandlikova, Majoli, and Amanda Coetzer.

We discussed how she has recently rediscovered her love for tennis, Angelica shared her views on the state of Mexican tennis, and how she is trying to bring a pro tournament to Baja Mexico. It was a terrific chat.

Recorded 9.25 Released 9.30

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We kick off our 10th season with our annual technology special featuring Roman Prokes of RPNY. We discussed his involvement helping Andre Agassi find a racquet that he likes, the cosmetic change that Frances Tiafoe went thru, including the difference in the dimensions of the Yonex handle, and the pros and cons of the new Federer racquets. Roman talked about the 18/19 trend in string patterns, as well as the trend toward lighter racquets. He explained what happens when he does a racquet consultation. It was a phenomenal chat.

Recorded and Released 9.23

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Mark Ein is one of the owners of The Washington Commanders of the NFL and is the owner of the Mubadala Citi Open. He sat down with me at Wimbledon and we discussed a myriad of subjects in and around the business of tennis and it was a masterclass. He explained his philosophies around doing good business and how he combined the San Jose women's tournament with his men's tournament, he talked about the Saudi involvement in tennis. We talked about the television contracts and the Tennis Channel being shopped. We had a tremendous chat, as he is the first tournament owner to be invited on the show.

Recorded 7.2 Released 7.5

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We are just a day and a half away from the start of The Championships, and Giri Nathan of The Second Serve and Defector joined me from a lovely spot by Court 18 this afternoon after attending the media day press conferences and we buzzed through some of the more interesting storylines leading into the fortnight- Raducanu resurgent, Sinner with a brutal draw, Tommy and Taylor winning the 2 lead up tournaments, Sabalenka announcing a shoulder injury, Novak in the mix and lots more. Have a listen and whet your Wimbledon appetite.

Recorded and released 6.29.24

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Just a few days after his player Kei Nishikori retired with a shoulder injury the second round of Roland Garros, coach Thomas Johannson joined me from his home in Monaco, where he has lived for the past 25 years. He actually shared with me some cool information about living there.

We discussed the conditions at the French, the issue that popped up this week of unruly fans, and talked in length about the players remaining in the men's draw. We talked about Rafa and his prospects moving forward. We talked about coaching at this moment in time and what that's like, and we talked about the dramatic downturn in Swedish tennis.

The former world #7 who had blitzed through the 2002 Australian Open draw and defeated Marat Safin in the final explained how a win vs the Moroccan Younes El-Aynoui put him on a path toward that major victory.

Recorded 5.3 Released 5.4

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