Nicole Melichar-Martinez, ranked #21 on the WTA doubles tour, shares insider perspectives on partnership dynamics, tournament conditions, and the future of doubles. The clay season in Europe offers beautiful cities, but she isn't a fan of the extended tournamentsWhich tournaments treat the doubles players well, and which ones need improvementWTA now conducts post-tournament surveys to gather player feedbackHer take on the 2025 season so far, including partnership breakups, WTA Finals favorite...
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Nicole Melichar-Martinez, ranked #21 on the WTA doubles tour, shares insider perspectives on partnership dynamics, tournament conditions, and the future of doubles. The clay season in Europe offers beautiful cities, but she isn't a fan of the extended tournamentsWhich tournaments treat the doubles players well, and which ones need improvementWTA now conducts post-tournament surveys to gather player feedbackHer take on the 2025 season so far, including partnership breakups, WTA Finals favorite...
Nicole Melichar-Martinez, ranked #21 on the WTA doubles tour, shares insider perspectives on partnership dynamics, tournament conditions, and the future of doubles. The clay season in Europe offers beautiful cities, but she isn't a fan of the extended tournamentsWhich tournaments treat the doubles players well, and which ones need improvementWTA now conducts post-tournament surveys to gather player feedbackHer take on the 2025 season so far, including partnership breakups, WTA Finals favorite...
Craig Veal shares his experience coaching three top-40 WTA doubles players: Desirae Krawczyk (#14), Olivia Nicholls (#32), and Teresa Mihalikova (#34). Currently in Paris, preparing his players for the upcoming French Open, Craig and I discussed how he manages multiple players while sharing strategy insights, and more. Craig's coaching philosophy centers on "coaching people first, tennis second," which has led to long-term coaching relationshipsHe shares one doubles tactic that is more effect...
John Parsons from the No-Ad No Problem Podcast brings his expert knowledge of college tennis to the show. We break down the NCAA Sweet 16, discuss the broader college tennis landscape, and explore how it can increase its television presence. We dive into the lessons college tennis can learn from beach volleyball's TV success and explore how the sport could experiment with formats to become more broadcast-friendly. College tennis hasn't been on ESPN linear networks since 2017, while beach voll...
Luke Johnson is currently ranked #40 in ATP doubles and is coming off his biggest career win at the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona with partner Sander Arends. I spoke with him earlier this week about his recent success, doubles strategy, and more. How he and Sander's complementary playing styles create an effective partnershipAdvantages to using different returning styles and court positioningThe journey of rising through the ATP rankings, effectively halving his ranking each year for five c...
Erin Routliffe, the #3 ranked WTA doubles player, unpacks her recent title run in Charleston with Jelena Ostapenko and shares insights about navigating the 2025 season so far. How her off-season injury affected her at the start of the year and how Gaby Dabrowski supported herExperience playing doubles with Ostapenko and winning in CharlestonDifferences between playing with Ostapenko versus her regular partner Gaby DabrowskiPlans for the clay court swingWhy she doesn't look at drawsHer friends...
In this special episode on the state of doubles and the professional doubles debate, I speak with ATP & WTA Coach, Dan Kiernan. Dan is the coach of Gaby Dabrowski, Michael Venus, and Nikola Mektic, and has been on the show several times before (below). In this conversation, we examine the future of doubles from multiple perspectives and challenge current assumptions about the format's viability. Reactions to the idea that "doubles specialists have no place in the future of tennis"The doub...
Ellen Perez is the #17 doubles player on the WTA tour. I spoke with her at Indian Wells on an off day after her 2nd round win with Jelena Ostapenko. We discussed their partnership, working with coach Rennae Stubbs, US Open Mixed changes, and more. Working with Rennae Stubbs and understanding strategic shot placementOstapenko's funny on-court naturePartnership changes early in the 2025 WTA doubles seasonGoals for the rest of 2025Adjusting to playing with doubles specialists like Melichar-Marti...
Andrea Vavasori is the #9 doubles player on the ATP Tour and won the 2024 US Open Mixed Doubles title with Sara Errani. He also reached the final of the men's doubles at the Australian Open earlier this year. I spoke with him at Indian Wells this year about those achievements, his vision for the future of doubles, the controversial US Open mixed doubles changes, and a lot more. Potential innovations for mixed doubles including a ranking system and year-end Masters event to increase visibility...
Demi Schuurs and Asia Muhammad join the show for their 3rd and 2nd times respectively (listen to the previous episode with Demi | episode with Asia). This team just won the BNP Paribas Open and I chatted with them after their second-round victory at Indian Wells just before practice on their off day. We discussed their impressive run to that point in the tournament, how their partnership formed, what's working so well, and more. Defeating Olympic champions and major finalists Paolini/Errani i...
Harry Heliovaara and Henry Patten are the #1 doubles team on the ATP tour, having captured two of the last three major doubles titles including Wimbledon 2024 and Australian Open 2025. I spoke with them in Indian Wells a few days before the start of the BNP Paribas Open. In this conversation, we discuss their practice routines, their partnership, the state of ATP doubles, and more. Detailed breakdown of their practice sessions, including specific drills like "volleyball" for serve and return ...
Kimberly Birrell is the #76 singles player on the WTA tour and reached the finals of the Australian Open in mixed doubles a few months ago. I spoke with Kim after her round-one victory in Austin Texas at the ATX Open. We discussed her recent Australian Open performance, how she's improved her game as her career has developed, and more. Kim's experience playing AO mixed with doubles veteran JP SmithSingles vs doubles mindset, and the importance of belief and partnership trustDiscussing goals f...
Heather Watson is a Wimbledon mixed doubles champion. Maia Lumsden is the #72 doubles player on the WTA Tour. I spoke with them in Austin after their round one win at the ATX Open. We spoke about the match, the playing conditions, and more. Heather's plans for doubles and why she wants to play moreHow Heather prepared for the 2024 Olympics where she reached the quarterfinals in the women's doubles drawMaia's goals for the rest of the seasonStrong opinions on the recent mixed doubles changes a...
An exploration of the ongoing debate surrounding professional doubles and its future. In this episode, I directly address the recent comments about doubles from Andy Roddick and Jon Wertheim on the Served Podcast, ignited by Reilly Opelka. I also created a separate video addressing the issue (see links in show notes below). I believe one of the problems we face is that there has been an echo chamber culture around the doubles debate. We need people with different opinions to come together for...
Rob Galloway is a top 30 doubles player on the ATP Tour. He made the finals of the 2025 Dallas Open with Ariel Behar. Rob's great story shows the importance of hard work and mindset to improve in doubles. In this conversation, Rob shares. Early obstacles and his decision to pursue a professional careerThe transition from college to pro tennisThe significance of staying healthy and having a growth mindset as a playerMixed doubles and being a part of Team USA at the United CupImproving the popu...
Jamie Murray is a 7-time Grand Slam Doubles Champion and a former world #1 with 34 career men's doubles titles. I set up a 15-minute interview with Jamie during the Dallas Open and we didn't talk about any of that. We also didn't discuss strategy, tactics, or mindset for improving your doubles game. I never asked about his story, or mentioned his brother Andy or his mother Judy. Instead, we talked about how to grow professional doubles. And the conversation lasted a full hour. Jamie is unique...
Robert Cash and JJ Tracy are two rising doubles stars on the ATP Tour. They reached the semifinals of the Dallas Open, propelling their rankings inside the top 100 for the first time. College teammates at Ohio State, the chemistry between them is obvious when they play. I chatted with them after their quarterfinal win in Dallas about college tennis and a lot more. The serve dominance in their quarterfinal winDiscussing their Dallas Open tournament experience and venue appealTactical adjustmen...
Ariel Behar and Rob Galloway made the finals at the Dallas Open and are now ranked #41 and #25 on the ATP doubles tour, respectively. In this post-match interview, we discuss their quarterfinal win in Dallas, their goals for 2025, the potential for making doubles more popular, and more. Insight on their quarterfinal and R16 match where they faced the top seeds and friends of Rob - Nate Lammons & Jackson WithrowGoals vs process and enjoying the journeyEnhancing doubles visibility through s...
Jamie Murray and John Peers are both multiple-time Grand Slam Doubles Champions. They reached the semifinals of the 2025 Dallas Open where I spoke with them after their quarterfinal win. They reflect on their crazy comeback victory from a set and 2-6 down in the 2nd set tiebreaker. By ATP standards, this is a huge deficit. We talk about resilience, adjustments related to the match, and more. How they climbed out of their big hole in the tiebreakerInsights on mental strength and key strategic ...
This episode includes two post-match interviews with 2025 Dallas Open Champions, Christian Harrison and Evan King. They won six matches without dropping a set, resulting in new career-high ATP doubles rankings of 55 and 54. They share the importance of teamwork, communication, and chemistry. We also discussed the effective return strategy that I believe helped lead them to the success they had in Dallas. Importance of chemistry and their off-court friendshipStrategy of the two-back return for...
Louis Cayer is one of the smartest doubles minds on the planet. He is a Senior Performance Advisor for the LTA, and the strategic brain behind every successful British ATP doubles player of the last few decades. He's worked with players doubles grand slam champions like Jamie Murray, Joe Salisbury, Neal Skupski, Henry Patten, and more. I spoke with Louis at the 2025 Australian Open, several days before one of his teams (Henry Patten & Harri Heliovaara) won the title. Whether you're a coac...
Nicole Melichar-Martinez, ranked #21 on the WTA doubles tour, shares insider perspectives on partnership dynamics, tournament conditions, and the future of doubles. The clay season in Europe offers beautiful cities, but she isn't a fan of the extended tournamentsWhich tournaments treat the doubles players well, and which ones need improvementWTA now conducts post-tournament surveys to gather player feedbackHer take on the 2025 season so far, including partnership breakups, WTA Finals favorite...
