Behind the Racquet Pod – Details, episodes & analysis

Mike (Cation) here. I've known Michael Kosta since I started working in tennis, right out of college, when Craig Tiley asked me to be the public address announcer for the University of Illinois Men's Tennis team, in 2001. He and Amer Delic came in to work on a pre-match CD of music, and we talked, and I immediately started pushing for him to join our radio morning show from time to time, because he was just hilarious.

25 years later, and Kosta has achieved some incredible things, with multiple comedy specials, and now as a correspondent and host on the Daily Show. And now, as he promotes his new book Lucky Loser, we have our first interview together in 22 years.

Enjoy.

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This podcast drops as Federico Gomez is just about an hour away from his first Australian Open appearance, taking on Joao Fonseca in the first round of qualies here on a Tuesday in Melbourne.

His route is an unusual one, having gone through a junior college to Louisville to the business world path, before breaking out in 2024 with three challenger titles, creeping closer and closer to the top 100 for the first time in his career.

More coming up next week!

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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 in the world. In a few weeks, he'll play in Roland Garros qualifying for the first time in his career, just his second career grand slam appearance (after the US Open Qs last year). Just over one year ago, he was ranked 1500 in the world heading in to the green clay Challengers in the states, and reached the Savannah final to really start his professional career.

We talked with Tristan about his more unique training in South American, his departure from Stanford, and what he's focusing on as his career gets underway in earnest.

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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?

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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Just a slew to unpack this week, in this order

1) The French results, Iga on BTR, Nadal's achievement at the French

2) The return of the USTA Pro Circuit

3) PTPA vs the New Player Council

4) Mental Health Awareness Week and where Noah and Mike are in that regard

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