Episodes
We decided that we are going to start posting our Tracksuit Rundown on other platforms, not just YouTube. These are weekly episode where we discuss the most notable tennis current events. In this week's Tracksuit Rundown: 0:00 - Intro 1:19 - Miami Open Recap 9:21 - Estoril Open Drama 16:45 - Monte-Carlo Masters Predictions 27:49 - Point of the Week JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/kKm7KbC5Wy Links To Just Slap Tennis Social Media: Instagram:...
Published 04/11/24
Published 04/11/24
In this episode of the Just Slap Podcast Alex sits down with former #5 in the world, semifinalist of the US Open, quarter finalist of the French Open, and current Tennis Director of IMG Academy -- Jimmy Arias. Discussion points: 0:00 - Intro 2:58 - Developing Character Through Tennis 11:08 - Introduction to Tennis and Nick Bollettieri 19:22 - What Modern Day Coaching and Tennis is Missing 24:00 - Relationship with Father 30:00 - Reflections and Changes After Getting Sick 40:20 -...
Published 02/01/24
In this episode Alex sits down with the #1 ranked Junior (ITF) tennis player in the world, Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez. This episode was filmed during the Eddie Herr International Championships at IMG Academy, which was Rodrigo's last junior tournament of his career before fully transitioning to the ATP tour (pro circuit). In this episode we discussed: 0:00 - Intro 1:06 - Eddie Herr International Championships 2:54 - Hobbies and Free Time 6:05 - Next Steps 6:53 - Playing Top ATP Pros 8:11 -...
Published 12/18/23
In this episode of the Just Slap Podcast Alex sits down with former Junior World #1 and 2019 Junior Wimbledon Champion -- Shintaro Mochizuki. This episode was filmed a couple of months ago during our trip to IMG Academy, where Shintaro was training for the Hard Court swing and for the 2023 US Open. This past week Shintaro has had a major breakthrough at the Japan Open where he beat world #31 Tomas Martin Etcheverry, #10 Taylor Fritz, and #41 Alexei Popyrin. In this episode we...
Published 10/21/23
In this episode Alex sits down with Margie Zesigner -- head of Girls/Women's Tennis at IMG Academy. In this episode, Margie and Alex discuss: 0:00 - Intro 3:40 - Purpose Through Coaching 8:27 - How to Ensure Athletes Develop Holistically 11:00 - Advice on dealing with early success and pressure 24:38 - Practice vs Competition Players 28:00 - The Importance of a Team in Tennis 31:35 - The Most Impressive WTA Player.... 39:00 - The Future of IMG Women's Tennis JOIN OUR...
Published 09/03/23
In this special episode, Steven and Alex go to IMG Academy in Bradenton Florida and sit down (for a second time) with the legendary coach David "Red" Ayme. Huge huge thank you to IMG Academy and Coach Red for making this happen! Episode Topics: 0:00 - Intro 4:34 - Nick Bollettieri's Passing and Legacy 11:00 - IMG Academy's "Complete Ecosystem" 16:50 - IMG Academy's Generational Success 23:07 - "Healthy" vs "Unhealthy" Competition 25:25 - Is IMG Academy Too Big? 29:52 - What Qualities You...
Published 09/03/23
In this 50th episode special, Steven and Alex sit down and talk to the brilliant Katrina Adams. Katrina tells us her story from the very beginning. She recounts how she began tennis in West Chicago and the lessons she learned as she moved up through high school, college, and into the pros. After her pro career Katrina maintained her love and passion for the game and helped build up the sport off of the court. She was appointed as CEO, President and Chairman of the USTA and made history by...
Published 05/20/23
In this episode, Steven and Alex sit down with Juan Jose Climent. Juanjo is currently Max Cressy's full time coach and is the co-founder and author of TAP Mindset, a program that is democratizing mental training for athletes all over the world. In the episode Juanjo delves into how his and Max Cressy's relationship started and discusses some of the ins and outs of what it's like coaching at the highest level. He breaks down differences between lower level tournaments and Grand Slams, and what...
Published 05/20/23
In this episode Alex sits down with former #24 in the world, American tennis player -- Christina McHale. Christina discusses her recent retirement and her plans moving forward now that she has stepped away from the pro tour. She discusses her current endeavors and her interest in tennis media. Alex and Christina also delve into Christina's tennis career, where Christina provided insight into what it was like being a top rank pro tennis player on tour. She recounted some of her major...
Published 03/26/23
In this episode of the Just Slap Podcast Steven and Alex sit down with the legendary Wally Green. Wally Green is a professional ping pong player and entrepreneur who has an incredible story and some of the wildest life experiences we have ever heard.  Growing up in Brooklyn in the projects, Wally talks about his upbringing and how it was full of violence and hate. He tells us how he joined a gang at the mere age of 13 years old and how he was in possession of things like guns even in his...
Published 02/27/23
In this episode Steven and Alex sat down with the brilliant Dr. Ioonna Felix. Dr. Felix is a board certified sports and orthopedic physical therapist. She has experience as Site Manager at Hospital for Special Surgery (having led multiple clinical teams and rehabilitative/performance services) and has recently been brought on as Regional Director for the Eastern Section USTA.  Dr. Felix delves into some of the most common tennis injuries both professional and amateur tennis players face...
Published 02/22/23
In this very special episode Steven and Alex sit down with former University of Alabama men's tennis player, former Russian Junior Champion, and rising professional tennis player -- Alexey Nesterov. Alexey and Alex have been friends since early childhood, having met at the academy where they both started playing tennis.  Alexey delves deep into the power of TAP, a new system and set of tools that he learned while training at the Weil Tennis Academy in California. He explains how TAP has...
Published 01/30/23
Happy New Year everyone!! In this episode, Steven and Alex sit down and discuss Alex's experience playing tennis with John  McEnroe. Alex and Steven also discuss the recent Roger Federer Wimbledon story and the passing of tennis legend, Nick Bollettieri.  JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/kKm7KbC5Wy Links To Just Slap Tennis Social Media:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justslappodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/justslappodcast Facebook:...
Published 01/22/23
In this episode, Steven and Alex sit down the the legendary college tennis coach, David Geatz. David has had a long and incredible career in the college tennis space. Starting his career in his early twenties, David has coached at the University of New Mexico, University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, Cornell University, and finally at the University of Pennsylvania. David has had numerous incredible accomplishments such as winning the Big 10 with Minnesota and, just recently,...
Published 01/22/23
In this episode, Steven and Alex sit down with former junior #1 and University of Pennsylvania graduate, Dima Shatalin. Dima and Alex knew each other since a very young age and grew up training at the same academy. Dima excelled at the sport as soon as he picked up a racquet and quickly became on of the best junior tennis players in the world. At only 12 years old he signed a 3-year deal with Nike, receiving thousands of dollars and free gear. He has played and beaten some of the top players...
Published 10/27/22
Just Slap Podcast is back! In this episode Steven and Alex sit down in person for the first time in almost a year and talk about all the changes Just Slap Tennis is making. They discuss investment they are making into the channel and what Just Slap Tennis viewers can expect in the near future! Thank you so much to all of you that support the channel and are here with us on this journey. We love you more than you could possibly know. You guys mean the world to us.  JOIN OUR...
Published 10/27/22
Hope you guys enjoy this first live Just Slap Podcast episode. We hope to do more of these in the future. In this episode we are took a deep dive into Wimbledon 2022 and all major events that happened in the last three weeks.  Topics discussed:  1. Rybakina wins Wimbledon... Russian achievement?  2. Kyrgios vs Tsitsipas drama  3. Fritz lucky loser? 4. Kyrgios-Djokovic bromance  5. Lleyton Hewitt Hall of Fame Induction  Links To Just Slap Tennis Social Media:  Instagram:...
Published 07/19/22
In this episode Steven sits down with current ATP pro and Behind the Racquet Founder and CEO, Noah Rubin. Noah first describes his introduction to tennis and how involved his family was in his tennis career. He describes the hardships of raising a tennis player and the difficult decisions players and parents have to make in order to obtain a high level on court. Noah talks about his career as a pro and details the financial hardships of being a pro on tour. He shares his ideas on how to...
Published 06/27/22
In this episode Steven and Alex sit down with former ATP ranked 21 in the world, Taylor Dent. Taylor tells what it was like growing up in an extremely athletically gifted and successful family and how being the son of professional tennis players (Grand Slam champion and finalist) set the tone for his approach to tennis from a very young age. Taylor delves into his professional career and journey as a pro, explaining some of the developments he made in his game along the way. He reveals the...
Published 06/11/22
In this episode Steven and Alex sit down with former 119 ranked ATP pro, Glenn Weiner. Glenn recalls the beginning of his tennis career and how he got involved in the sport. He explains how after moving to California as a child he became very dominant as a Junior, which prompted him to make a big commitment and move full time to play at IMG academy at 16 years old.    Glenn then recalls his journey as a pro player and what the transition into pro tennis was like for him. He explains some of...
Published 05/30/22
In this episode Steven and Alex sit down with Princeton University Men's Tennis coach, Billy Pate. Billy has been involved in college tennis for 27 years, which included two years as an assistant coach at Notre Dame and ten years as a head coach at University of Alabama.  In the episode Coach Pate tells Steven and Alex how he got involved in college tennis and why he didn't fall in love with the job right away. He talks about recruiting for Princeton Univeristy and how it is different from...
Published 05/15/22
In this episode Steven and Alex sit down with award winning writer, producer, director, and sports journalist, Stephane Floricien. Stephane tells us how he got into sports journalism and how sport has taken him places he has only dreamed of in the past. Stephane tells us about his passion for tennis and how he started his journalism journey after playing college tennis in the United States. He recalls the times he has interviewed players like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rafael...
Published 05/13/22
In this episode Steven and Alex sit down with former #33 ATP ranked player in the world, Alex Bogomolov Jr. Alex first talks about his introduction to the sport and what it was like being coached by his father, who was one of the best coaches in the Soviet Union having coached top players in the world like Kafelnikov and Medvedev. Alex then goes into talking about the beginning of his pro career and how he was deciding to go between college and pro. He describes the ups and downs of his...
Published 04/23/22
In this episode Alex sits down with the man behind the Tweener Head YouTube channel, Phil Fama. Phil and Alex discuss everything from how Phil got into tennis, the reason he started Tweener Head, his experiences interviewing pro tennis players (Paula Badosa, Iga Swiatek, Camila Giorgi, etc.), and some of the challenges he has faced in the past 4 years with his channel. Phil and Alex also discuss some of the major problems they see with tennis media today and what major tennis media platforms...
Published 04/10/22