Behind the Racquet Pod

Mike (Cation) here. I've known Michael Kosta since I started working in tennis, right out of college, when Craig Tiley asked me to be the public address announcer for the University of Illinois Men's Tennis team, in 2001. He and Amer Delic came in to work on a pre-match CD of music, and we talked, and I immediately started pushing for him to join our radio morning show from time to time, because he was just hilarious. 25 years later, and Kosta has achieved some incredible things, with multiple comedy specials, and now as a correspondent and host on the Daily Show. And now, as he promotes his new book Lucky Loser, we have our first interview together in 22 years. Enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Johannus Monday enters 2025 at 371 in the world, but as we know on the BTR Pod, the ranking very rarely tells the full story. The 6'6" lefty has evolved immensely over the last five years, and ended the 2024 season with three straight 25K titles, and a semifinal at the Knoxville Challenger. That was a special one for him, as it was a few months after he graduated from the University of Tennessee. We talk about he went from an unheralded prospect out of Hull, to one of the most feared players out of the collegiate system in the last few years. He joins Jake Fearnley, Nishsesh Basavareddy, Eliot Spizzirri and others from the 2024 class making their mark at the highest level. We go over those humble beginnings, how he got to Tennessee, that incredible 2024 class, and what he, and Mike, think he needs to do to be the best version of himself. His goals will surprise you. More from Melbourne next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nate Lammons is one of my favorite people to run in to at every tournament. He's down to earth, not impressed by pretense, and just a good human to be around. He also happens to be one of the top 20 doubles players in the world. We chopped it up about his rise to that level, and some of the top doubles topics right now, including the US decision not to play Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek during Davis Cup this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ethan Quinn is 20 years old, ranked 246 in the world, out of Fresno, California. He won the NCAA Singles title at Georgia in 2023. On the eve of US Open qualies, he sat down with Mike to discuss his path out of Fresno, why he's a 40 year old in a 20 year old body, the slow and sometimes difficult progression in the pros, and his journey in to hip hop. More (hopefully) next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cooper Williams is an 18 year old originally from New York City. He's currently ranked 1250 on the ATP Tour, but this summer he will no doubt see a massive jump in that part. It's inevitable. He's a former junior world #3, and was a top 10 collegiate talent this past spring at Harvard. That includes an Australian Open doubles title with Learner Tien. This summer is an important one for Cooper, as he explores the professional tour and sees where he fits in. We certainly expect some big things, and it was great to have him join us on the pod to talk about his transition in to college, what he expects this summer, and shockingly, what Noah meant to his career! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First, unfortunately, Mike's mic shut down in recording, so as the least important person on the pod (Noah and Tristan agree on this)..his voice will sound shaky today. Tristan Boyer is a 23 year old out of Southern California, ranked 231 in the world. In a few weeks, he'll play in Roland Garros qualifying for the first time in his career, just his second career grand slam appearance (after the US Open Qs last year). Just over one year ago, he was ranked 1500 in the world heading in to the green clay Challengers in the states, and reached the Savannah final to really start his professional career. We talked with Tristan about his more unique training in South American, his departure from Stanford, and what he's focusing on as his career gets underway in earnest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miguel is now 36 years of age, and remains very much in the discussions at the slams as a top 75 doubles player. The former Texas Longhorn talks about his long career as a doubles specialist, what made that decision for him, and how he views the long history of Mexican tennis. We also get in to some of the ATP Player Council politics, namely how doubles gets more eyes (and money), where the ATP is on a domestic abuse policy, and whether Latin America will be getting a Masters Series event. More next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First, apologies for some of Mike's audio issues in this one. Unfortunately, the wifi in his hotel this past weekend caused a few issues so we're going to ignore the fact that he sounds worse than normal, which is saying a lot. Here are Eliot's deets: Age: 22 Rank: ATP 721, ITA (College) #1 Hometown: Greenwich, Connecticut 2023 Collegiate Player of the Year, finishing #1 in singles, #2 in doubles He will definitely hop in as a Challenger level player quickly once he turns pro at the end of the year. More coming up next week! Also, happy birthday to the lil fella. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31-year-old Robert Galloway is a top 50 doubles player from South Carolina. His path took him a different route than most. He was at the peak in the 12s, stepped away from the game, and found his way back as a college star at Wofford University. As a doubles specialist straight out of college, it's a long, hard road to the top 50. Robby G takes us through his journey, with some detours as we discuss the Australian Open, the Zverev player council issue, and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zach moves to ~139 in the rankings with a 10 match winning streak. This is a nice addendum to our full podcast, which is the previous one in your feed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Koppelman is a DEVOTED tennis fan, but you'll know him best for his involvement as Executive Producer and Showrunner for the Showtime series Billions, writer of Ocean's Thirteen and Rounders, and the director of the 30 for 30 episode "This Is What They Want", about Jimmy Connors. He sits down with Noah to chat about Billions, his tennis love, and so much more. Mike was unfortunately on air at the time, so he had to feed Noah questions about his literal favorite film, Rounders. Tomorrow we'll have a quickie with Abdullah Shelbayh, and Freddie Nielsen joins us next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 27 year old Atlanta resident woke up from a well deserved nap to join us on Wednesday night, and go through how his life has changed in the span of 3 weeks with a first ATP title in Mallorca, and a spirited run to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. We go through how he's processing it, the reaction at home in Atlanta, what's changed in his game, and yes, the most remarkable celebrities that reached out. Lots to cover, so dive in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Noah spent the last several days fully analyzing the latest "part" of Break Point. He breaks it down for us, strengths and weaknesses, and we list who we think are the biggest misses from the "profiles" so far. We do a quick analysis of the differences of qualifying at Wimbledon, versus ACTUAL Wimbledon. And then, we get in to the meat of of our pod, a rare interview with Alex Bolt. The 30 year old is currently ranked 342 in the world while coming back from injury. He's using a protected ranking this week in Wimbledon qualies, where we hope he finds some joy. In 2019, at Wimby qualies, he played what some say was the match of the century so far, with Jannik Sinner. We talk about that, his break from tennis early in his career to play footie, and much more. Bolty is a quiet guy, and we're incredibly appreciative of his time and his willingness to chat. More next week, before Mike heads to Taylor Freaking Swift. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices