The Behind the Racquet Podcast is the best glimpse you can get in to the ins and outs of professional tennis, told by its players, and voiced by Tennis Star Noah Rubin.
Limits are getting pushed
Limits are getting pushed indeed.
For Mike, it's the all too familiar feel of depression that's hit pretty hard.
For Noah, it's a level of frustration with the leaders of tennis.
Wide ranging chat with the pride of Carmel, Indiana Rajeev Ram this week. Mike gets to chat all things University of Illinois with one of the legends from the undefeated National Championship team of 2003, and Noah looks ahead with the Australian Open champion about how the sport might be changing due to the pandemic delay.
Huge thank you to our patreon supporters this week. We're so thankful for the support in this difficult time, and if you're able, we'd appreciate your support too. Go to patreon.com/BehindtheRacquetPod
Our weekly check in today is essentially therapy time for Mike, while Noah is taking his discussions to a large group of players. Hear what he's discussing with them, and how the guys are handling their time sidelined, and without an income source.
What's next with WTA star and Player Council Member Gaby Dabrowski
Two caveats here:
1) As we always want to point out, nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our society. This discussion is meant to look at some of the tennis issues surrounding how the sport is affected by Coronavirus.
2) Noah and Mike had some technical issues that we couldn't quite solve, so we had to record this one over skype, so the audio quality is not what we'd like to have.
Gaby Dabrowski was a delight. She takes us inside some of the WTA Player Council discussions about income distribution, scheduling, doubles rankings, and how she's coping as a human with all of the questions surrounding her career with the coronavirus delaying tennis, and really, life.
The caveats are important here. Nothing, in terms of discussing the what ifs of tennis, matters as much as the health of humans, and how we move forward as a society.
That being said, Mike and Noah talk a bit this week about how they're personally being impacted, and how the decision making processes by the various entities in the sport are drastically underrepresenting its players.
Personal note from Mike: Apologies for not properly thanking all of our incredible patreon supporters in this week's episode. I will make sure to make that right next week.
Noah's 15-All Volume 8: Yeah, we're a bit nervous about the impact of Coronavirus too
Noah jumps about 25 spots in the rankings after a GREAT week in Indian Wells.
Naturally, he's headed to Hawaii.
And yes, the coronavirus is weighing heavily on our minds. First, both of us are quite aware that the human toll, in casualties, illnesses, and the like are far more important. But the impact that tennis players outside the top 50 feel, are similar to the impacts that many of our listeners feel. So we riff on it for a bit.
Lots to discuss with Thai-Son Kwiatkowski on the eve of the stacked Indian Wells Challenger. He won Newport Beach earlier this year after a difficult 2019 mentally. How did he turn it around.
Also, he immediately went to Japan after winning that tile, and not for an individual event. Find out why.
Thanks for all the support of the podcast since the launch of our new name and patreon last week. We're extremely appreciative, more than we can express.
If you want to support the cast, visit www.patreon.com/BehindtheRacquetPod, or donate directly by visiting paypal.me/behindtheracquetpod.
Things are changing for us. We've rebranded as the Behind the Racquet Pod. And what better guest to get to mark the occasion than Ernesto Escobedo, the first person ever to be featured on Behind the Racquet.
We talk about his decision to be the first on BTR, what it's meant to be a Mexican-American star, and his unique ability with a football.
And don't forget to check out our new patreon page, at patreon.com/BehindtheRacquetPod
