The Behind the Racquet with Mike Cation and Noah Rubin
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, and his podcast partner, tennis commentator Mike Cation.
Behind the Racquet with Goncalo Oliveira
Noah will be back this week, after we air this episode I recorded in Orlando a few weeks ago!
Goncalo Oliveira will take us on a ride through a fascinating childhood, to say the least. In some ways, it was living the dream; in others, not so much.
He's now on the cusp of being a perennial Grand Slam doubles participant. But that's not the goal yet. He'll explain why, and we'll talk about some of the ATP politics as well
Posted on 28 June 2021
Behind the Racquet with J.C. Aragone
What a treat to have J.C. stop by my house while he was in Tulsa for a Futures this week. Noah joins us by phone from Minnesota.
With J.C., we go through his development and time at Virginia, and then to the in depth discussion on how Type 1 diabetes has affected his life on and off the court. It's changed dramatically over the past 10 years, and is he at a new point in his life?
Next week on the pod, Goncalo Oliveira.
Posted on 21 June 2021
Behind the Racquet with Ulises Blanch
Of note, no Noah this week, as he was both traveling, AND he had Islanders rinkside seats while I knocked out this pod, as well as one with Goncalo Oliveira that we'll post soon.
Uli is 23 years old, with a unique childhood that he'll tell you about. Really a fascinating interview, and thanks to everyone for popping in and spending time with me the last couple weeks back on the road!
-Mike.
Posted on 14 June 2021
Behind the Racquet with Jason Jung
NOTE: PLEASE EXCUSE THE DOUBLE AUDIO FOR THE FIRST MINUTE OF THE INTERVIEW. I got it sorted out after about a minute or so. -Mike
The ankle injury continues to hamper Noah, but Mike trudges on alone on the road, but is joined by Jason Jung, a perennial top 150 player who has found ways over the years to continue to see high level success. It's been a long path, from a highly successful junior career, to a college career that didn't quite hit those big expectations, to a real life job, and then yes, on to a really strong professional career.
We talked through that journey, and how difficult it's been coming back from the six month pandemic hiatus both on court, and off. And we also walked through what it's meant for him when he changed nationalities in 2015.
Posted on 31 May 2021
Behind the Racquet with Ellen Perez
It's a big week with Roland Garros qualifying underway in Paris, so we were thrilled to have a few minutes on Sunday to chat with Ellen Perez. Ellen was this week's feature on Behind the Racquet, and we wanted to extend the conversation a bit and see if her effervescent personality and positivity could rub off on the two cynics in the room.
Little Rock is on the docket for Mike next week, and Orlando immediately following, so we'll have a couple more in person chats coming up.
Thanks as always for the continued support!
Posted on 24 May 2021
Behind the Racquet with Jenson Brooksby
It's been a pretty damned decent 2021 already for Jenson Brooksby, He's now won three Challenger titles, including both Orlando in Tallahassee in April in back to back weeks ON DIFFERENT SURFACES on the USTA Pro Circuit. Truly remarkable stuff. He hops on the pod to talk with Mike and Noah about where he gets his incredible self belief, learning from early opportunities at Challengers in Northern California, and how and why he's as vocal as he is on the court.
Posted on 3 May 2021
Welcome Back Cation
Mike got back out on the road, so he shares his thoughts on the Challengers in Orlando and Tallahassee.
Then, we get in to your questions, including Jack Sock's future, the difficulties of scheduling....
and then a LOT of you wanted us to discuss Jenson Brooksby. So we did. And hopefully, we have him hop on with us later in the week.
Posted on 27 April 2021
Behind the Racquet with Denis Kudla
Recorded Friday night, Orlando Finalist Denis Kudla joins us to discuss how marriage has changed his life both on and off the court, and given him new perspectives.
He also discusses what he learned from a few days away on Necker Island, learning from Richard Branson.
And.....hockey talk.
Posted on 19 April 2021
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Podcast
Both guys are now on the mend, after Mike gives you the details on his recent medical trauma.
Hoooobi is the champion in Miami. What does it mean for what's popular in tennis?
We debate development routes, focusing on the path taken by Sebastian Korda and how to make it accessible to more people.
And finally, yes, how good is women's tennis right now at the top?
Posted on 7 April 2021
Exploring the complexities of being an Asian-American on Tour with Thai-Son Kwiatkowski
After Jeremy Lin's comments recently about being an Asian-American in the NBA, we wanted to explore the same topic in the tennis world, and we brought on Thai-Son Kwiatkowski to dissect the issue. It's never a comfortable discussion, but a pretty damned crucial one.
We also, unexpectedly, went in to some rather deep discussions on the mental health difficulties Thai has faced, and that MANY players on tour are facing, especially those 150+ in the rankings.
As always, we REALLY appreciate your support, texts, tweets, DMs, and all through this last year. Hope we have some more interactions soon!
