The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast

With pro tennis at an ominous crossroads, the great Stan Smith and I had an important chat that was a mix of a walk down memory lane as well as a pointed conversation about tennis' potential next steps. Stan opined on the USTA's budget cuts as well as the impending Saudi incursion into our sport, and what it means for the smaller tournaments like Bastaad, Gstaadt, and Vienna. And t

The Hall of Famer Rosie Casals and I had a world class chat, as it was a real honor to have the former world #3 and one of The Original 9 players that created the WTA on the show. Rosie talked about what it was like growing up in tennis in San Francisco was like, and how Billie Jean King showed her how to become a more disciplined athlete, and how the Virginia Slims media training

Like many players on tour, John Millman has had an incredible journey in tennis. The youngest of 5, he was snubbed by Tennis Australia as a junior and used that as motivation to grind, and he went to Europe as an 18 year old. It wasn't until after his 2nd shoulder surgery that he cracked the top 100. In 2018 he beat Roger Federer in the 4th round at the US Open and that October he

The former world #6 José Higueras won 16 titles on the pro tour, semi'd the French twice, and upon retirement coached a massive amount of players to huge success. José coached Michael Chang to his French Open title in 1989, and then was with Jim Courier fort his 4 majors and ascendance to the #1 ranking. In 2008 after they won the US Open, he left Roger Federer to join Patrick Mc

Giri Nathan of Defector and The Second Serve chatted with me via Zoom, we both were in Indian Wells and we discussed all of the on and off court hot button topics, including Novak's odd departure from tournament, the Rybakina propensity to pull out of tournaments, the Sabalenka Situation, the PIF incursion in to tennis, as well as the Halep re-emergence onto the WTA Tour. We talked

Patrick McEnroe the Stanford Cardinal and the former World #28 in addition to being a broadcaster for ESPN is now the president of The International Tennis Hall of Fame. We had a tremendous chat here in the desert, and covered all of the hot button topics of the day, including the Saudi and Emirates incursion into our sport, The future of The Netflix Slam and Agassi's reemergence,

The 4 TimeMajor Champion, World #1 The Hall of Famer Jim Courier and I chopped it up on the Tennis Channel patio in what has become an annual event, discussing the BNP Paribas Open and all the hot button topics of the day including the Netflix Exhibition, the demise of BREAK POINT, Rafa's last stand, and the difficulties both Frances Tiafoe and Jess Pegula are having. Recorded and

Jonny Levine has lived an incredible life in tennis. In the early 80s he reached the finals of the Kalamazoo National 18s and was a 2 time All American at Texas. He appears to have the distinction of being the first player to beat Andre Agassi in a professional tournament, and he reached the quarters of the French and US Open doubles in 1988 with the lightning bolt serving Eric Kor

Maria Timofeeva, known to all as Masha, was born in Moscow in 2003, learned tennis at the famous tennis school Spartak and In 2017 she won the prestigious under 14 tournament L'Petit As, and from then was on a trajectory to become a professional. In the summer of 2023 her ranking shot from 250 to 120 after winning Budapest as a lucky loser, and then this past January she entered th

As it pertains to her son, the world #7 Holger Rune. she is always in the mix. For me, she is the preeminent tennis mom in our game, dressed in black head to toe, conspicuously cool in the player's box. Aneke Rune and I had a wonderful chat, we discussed her son's trials and tribulations at length, including the former and current coaching situation, the importance of his team as w