Behind the Racquet Pod – Details, episodes & analysis

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 a lot. Here are Eliot's deets: Age: 22 Rank: ATP 721, ITA (College) #1 Hometown: Greenwich, Connecticut 2023 Collegiate Player of the Year, finishing #1 in singles, #2 in doubles He will definitely hop in as a Challenger level player quickly once he turns pro at the end of the year. More coming up next week! Also, happy birthday to the lil fella. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jared Donaldson is just 24 years old, but has been out of action for essentially two years, since originally hurting his knee in the summer of 2018. It's not been a smooth process for him on the road to recovery. He walks us through his prognosis, and the reality of what's staring him in the face. He also goes in the way back machine with his former Jr Davis Cup teammate Noah Rubin to discuss their epic win over Russia, featuring three future top 10 players. We will also be releasing our patreon only episode this week. I promise. I've just been a little out of it the last few days, and need to get down to business. Stay healthy everyone. <3 Mike Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a while, so Noah and Mike have some catching up to do. Noah brings you all the latest info the players have received when it comes to the Australian Open. Hint: It's still a little dicey. Plus the schedule for 2021 is way up in the air. What's it mean? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part 2 of our dispatches from Cary, Noah and Mike chat with Denis Kudla (who is in the final on Sunday at the Atlantic Tire Championships in Cary), doubles specialist Nate Lammons, Jack Sock's coach and former top 100 player Alex Bogomolov, Jr., and top 70 doubles star Luke Bambridge. More coming up next week from Orlando! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a rainy day in Cary on Wednesday, Noah and Mike chatted with eight different players for mini-interviews, culminating with the more serious question of how to improve the quality of life and opportunity for Challengers, and Challenger level players. On Part 1, we chat with Christopher Eubanks, Hunter Reese, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, and Teymuraz Gabashvili. Part 2 will be released on Monday, with thoughts from Luke Bambridge, Denis Kudla, Alex Bogomolov, Jr, and Nate Lammons. Thanks so much to our patreon sponsors. You can help the podcast by visiting patreon.com/behindtheracquetpod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Challenger tennis returns to the US this week in beautiful Cary, North Carolina, Noah and Mike sit down with returning finalist Michael Mmoh to talk about his covid break, how his runs in Cary and Knoxville in 2019 changed his perspective, his long term development, his relationship with his parents, and yes, Frances Tiafoe's note from Saturday that Mike was MIA. Disclosure: This podcast was recorded outdoors, and socially distanced. We're incredibly thankful to our patreon supporters and others who have allowed for us to have good enough equipment to sit six feet apart from each other, or further, and have a good discussion without having to shout. It's such an incredible luxury in this difficult time. But all safety precautions were taken to make sure the three of us were safe and apart from each other, while also still having a healthy, and well heard, discussion. You can help us grown the podcast by becoming a patreon supporter as well, by visiting patreon.com/BehindTheRacquetPod. We remain overwhelmed and appreciative of all the support, big and small, especially in this challenging time of covid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Native Californian CiCI Bellis' injury battles through 2018-9 are well documented, going through four surgeries on her arm. After withdrawing before her semifinal match Saturday at the USTA Pro Circuit event in Tyler, Texas, CiCi joined Noah and Mike for a chat about her preparation for this week's event in Charleston, how she's handling the schedule post Covid-hiatus, and her newfound fame on the cooking circuit! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Behind the Racquet founder Noah Rubin announced the BTR Tour, his vision for a reimagined tennis experience. Today, Mike presses him on the details behind the larger vision, including the details of BTR Tour weekend, and whether it's a long term competitor for the ATP and WTA Tours. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices