Courtside Sessions – Details, episodes & analysis

What's up, Team Diadem? We're back with another electrifying episode of Courtside Sessions, and this time, we're thrilled to host a true tennis powerhouse, Ryan Knarr! If you’ve been following Diadem, you know Ryan as one of our top ambassadors and the USA High School Coach of the Year in 2021. He’s also the President-Elect for USTA Middle States, overseeing a vast community of tennis enthusiasts.

In this episode, Ryan and Diadem Kev dive deep into his remarkable journey from being a late-blooming player to a key figure in tennis coaching and administration. We discuss his diverse experiences from playing across all NCAA divisions to his impactful work with community tennis programs.

Ryan shares his insights on building a strong support system, navigating college tennis, and the importance of responsibility, trust, and belief in developing junior players. He also opens up about overcoming injuries, balancing passion with the business side of the sport, and his vision for growing the game.

Catch all this and more as Ryan recounts his path, from his early days in tennis to his current roles shaping the future of the sport. Whether you’re a player, coach, or just a tennis fan, this episode is packed with inspiration and practical advice.

Join us as we chat with Sam Innerst, one of Diadem's newest team members! From milking cows to college tennis, hear Sam's inspiring journey and tennis tips. 

Sam also Breaks down the difference between junior and college tennis and how being an individual isn’t always better than having a support system in your coaches and teammates. He also speaks of how each player has a different experience and how important it is to carefully make your decision when advancing your career. 

Sam wraps up the talk with how his life has changed since finishing his playing career, and the transition from player to coach to industry worker. 

Step into the world of tennis with Sam in this podcast episode! 

On our first episode of season 2, we sit down with Christian Singer, a tennis player turned industry expert, to discuss his journey from the courts of South Germany to the world stage. Christian shares anecdotes from his early days playing tennis in junior teams in his hometown just outside Munich, to his college tennis experiences at Georgia Southern University in the US.

We dive into the challenges of adapting to the US tennis culture, the camaraderie of college tennis, and Christian's transition from being an athlete to starting his career in the racket sports industry. With 14 years at Wilson under his belt, Christian shares stories from the industry and his experiences traveling to witness legendary matches and see juniors grow into professionals.

That's a wrap on Season 1 of Courtside Sessions! Sachia Vickery, checks in to discuss life on and off the court, her run at the US Open, and much more! When talking about her run she said, "US Open for any American player is the biggest tournament that we can play in, and the support that I had from the crowd that week, I was able to play my best tennis." You can also get the racket Sachia uses for 30% off this Nova November, check it out in the link below and stay tuned for a full sit down with Sachia in season 2 of Courtside Sessions!  

Tosin Awomewe, a former junior, competitive adult player, with an extensive coaching background, who went on to start his own academy shares his tennis journey and unique philosophy. "My training had an end goal, believe it or not, to always learn something new each time I trained." Check out the full episode to hear all the gems Tosin dropped during this conversation!

Trey Morris, the current Head Men's Tennis Coach at Jacksonville State University, shares his tennis journey with us. A lot of his current coaching philosophy has been honed in through his experience competing across the world. He said, "my father did a phenomenal job of creating a mentality for the way I viewed competition." Tune into the full episode to learn more about that mentality and pick up more tips from coach Morris!

Brian Rosenthal, a former compettive junior and NC State Wolfpack player who has gone on to have a sucessful career working in tennis shares some insight he's learned along the way. When asked if lessons he learned in his playing career impacted him professionally he said, "I think you learn about persevereance and you learn about roadblocks." Check out the full episode to hear everything Brian had to share!

Greg Patton, a long time college coach with experience in the USA National Collegiate program, opens up his full notebook to share experiences and stories from his life long journey in tennis. He discussed many topics and here is a quick note he had on the college recruiting process: "One thing I think a lot of players have to realize is that good people make good teams." Check out the full episode to hear everything he had to say about recruiting and much more!

Jose Ayala, a former ATP pro, long time junior tennis development specialist, and tennis dad shares some insight in how he mastered the game and the philosophy he has developed as a coach. He had a lot of great insight that he shared in this episode. He had this to say on competition, "you know, you go on the court, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose and most of time it wasn't me. That's what made me strive to be better."

Author, speaker, and entrepreneur, JM Ryerson, who specializes in mindset and leadership shares some insight on his work with professional players and his 17 year old tennis playing son, TJ. He dropped so many gems in this conversation, but one the stuck out was, "You're not going to stop your emotions from happening. Look, you hit a bad shot, you got upset. But how do you respond? If you react, throw your hands in the air, throw your racket, it doesn't do anything and you're giving your opponent confidence