The Bahamian with the tight blond curls Mark Knowles has lived an amazing life in tennis. He was identified by Nick Bollettieri when he was 10 years old and was given a scholarship to join the action in Bradenton, Florida. He played at UCLA, and the turned pro in 1992, he reached the top 100 in singles, but it was in doubles where he distinguished himself, reaching world #1, winning 3 majors and 55 tournaments over the course of a 20 year career. Now a broadcaster and the elected player representative on the ATP board, Mark provided a birds eye view of the hot button topics facing men's tennis ..read more

In his first match at the 2023 Australian Open, the left handed Frenchman Corentin Moutet snapped the sheath that holds the ligaments in his right wrist, and went on to play with a one handed backhand for the entire year. It was an odd year to say the least as he had surgery and continued to compete at the highest level with a one hander instead of taking the protected ranking and letting the right wrist heal. We discussed this wild year, his mercurial nature as well as what it has been like to grow up in French Tennis, and he explained the significance of being tossed out of the FTF. Per usu ..read more

Amos Mansdorf grew up outside of Tel Aviv, a 2nd generation Israeli, as his grandparents migrated to Israel in the 20's. In 1987 he got to 18 in the world, the highest ranking ever for an Israeli, and had an awesome career, beating Hall of Famers Connors, Becker, and Muster to name a few. He appeared in 16 finals and won 6 titles. Amos joined me from his home in Tel aviv where just hours earlier the sirens were sounded and missiles flew overhead, as Israel is at war. We discussed the situation at length, and then were able to successfully segue to tennis. It was an important and exceptional c ..read more

There's just nothing better than taking a deep dive with a player that has been through the fire, and Dan Evans fits that bill. In August Dan came out of a six match losing streak and won his second ATP tournament in Washington DC, defeating Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov en route to the championship that got him to his career high ranking of 21 in the world. The flashy shotmaker followed up the DC win with a virtuoso performance in a losing effort to Carlitos Alcaraz in the 3rd round of the US Open, wowing the crowd and Carlitos, himself. Just a couple weeks later he put the British Davi ..read more

Jose Luis Clerc represented Argentina on their Davis Cup Team from 1976-1989, alongside Guillermo Vilas for most of those years, and did battle with McEnroe, Wilander, Connors and Lendl to name a few. He got to 4 in the world in 1981 after going on a 25 match win streak, and then went on a 28 match win streak in. 82. He won 25 tournaments on tour and reached the semis of Roland Garros in 81 and 82. Hew is now the broadcaster for South America, we linked at the US Open and had a great chat. We discussed a myriad of topics, the 5 set format was a tremendous asset, and I loved every second of ou ..read more

Along with his brothers Vijay, Anand Amritraj is Indian Tennis Royalty and is considered to be amongst the first Indians to compete on the elite level. He posted a win over John McEnroe on grass, and won 7 titles. In doubles he won 12 titles and reached the semis of Wimbledon and the quarters of the US Open. He was on the 1974 and 1987 Davis Cup Teams that both reached the finals, and his participation catapulted him into a lifetime of stardom. With his flowing feathered white hair and his colorful wardrobe, Anand is one of the flashiest dressers the sport has ever seen, is on the cover of ..read more

Ali Riske-Armritraj grew up in Pittsburgh and in 2009 chose not to attend Vanderbilt University and turn pro. Ten years later she defeated Ash Barty to reach the quarters of Wimbledon and got to 18 in the world. She has won three titles on tour and has represented her country in the Olympics and Fed Cup. Ali and I discussed current hot button issues including the impending move of the Cincinnati Tournament, to the emergence this summer of Coco Gauff. We talked about her hope for the future of the WTA, and what the US Open special. We talked about her career in length, which has been incredib ..read more

Jaime Yzaga grew up in Lima, Peru with a grandfather that worked him into tennis at a young age, and in 1985 he won the French Open Juniors beating Thomas Muster 6-0 in the 3rd. With the great Colon Nuñez and then Pato Rodriguez at his side he won 8 tour titles and in 1989 got to 18 in the world. It was at The US Open where he had his greatest success. In 1994 he reached the quarterfinals by beating the previous year's finalist Cedric Pioline, and then Pete Sampras in a 5 set thriller-a feat that is considered one of the greatest upsets in history. We discussed Jaime's story of moving to the ..read more

In 1978 at the age of 16 years old, Baltimore, MD native Pam Shriver got to the final of The US Open as an amateur, defeating world #1 Martina Navratilova in the semis. She was on tour for 20 years, won 21 tournaments and got to 3 in the world, competing week in and week out against Chris Evert, Martina, Tracy Austin, and Steffi Graf to name a few. In doubles she won 108 straight matches with Martina and In 1983 she and Martina won all 4 majors, the only team in history to complete The Grand Slam. After her Hall of Fame career she embarked on what has been a prolific broadcasting career and c ..read more

Racquet Guru Roman Prokes of AGASSI Fame broke down everything all you tech fiends ever wanted to know. Swiatek, Alcaraz, Djokovic, add weight, subtract weight, big grips, small grips, overgrips, string patterns, strings. The 2023 Racquet Tech Special is here. Recorded 6.12 at RPNY, Released 6.16 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Diadora Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information ..read more