Beyond The Baseline

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Jake Agna, director of Kids on the Ball, an American non-profit based in Vermont. Agna spearheaded the efforts to help rebuild the courts at the National Tennis Center in Havana, Cuba, and he talks about how he raised money, how he became involved in the process, where tennis fits into the Cuban sports scene and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with former ATP player and University of Virginia college player Brian Vahaly. Now working in finance as a venture capitalist, Wertheim talks with 37-year-old Vahaly on his post-playing days, how he made the transition into his current role, his current relationship with the sport and more. Vahaly also discusses his life after retiring from tennis and how when he stopped playing competitively and left the game he was forced to come to terms with things about himself, including his happiness, his career aspirations and his sexuality. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with sports radio personality and huge tennis fan Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on recent results and the upcoming French Open and lead-up clay tournaments. Russo also explains how he became so interested in the sport and his personal playing career. He also talks about why, in his opinion, tennis loses out against more popular sports in the U.S., the struggles local radio stations and newspapers have when trying to cover top tennis players and tournaments, how tennis can become more relevant to the mainstream sports media and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Marcus Willis, the now-26-year-old, No. 401-ranked British player who became the fairytale story of Wimbledon last year. He recalls how his time at Wimbledon has altered his career, what it's like being a father, his plans to move to the U.S., what he's expecting for this year's Wimbledon tournament and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Paul Annacone about Roger Federer's surging 2017 season, on-court coaching, Annacone's transition from a player to TV, his current role as a Tennis Channel analyst and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Sascha Bajin about how he ended up becoming a WTA tennis coach, what his goals are in this field, what it's like coaching top WTA players and more. He also talks about his current partnership with Caroline Wozniacki and past experiences with Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Lindsay Davenport from the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, S.C., where she talks about WTA storylines of the year, including the reemergence of Venus Williams and the current state of Angelique Kerber's game. The pair also discusses Roger Federer's "Sunshine Double," Rafael Nadal and his head-to-head matchup against Federer, her current coaching situation, now that she has returned to Madison Keys' team, and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Robbie Koenig about all things ATP tennis, including the three top storylines in the game right now: the resurgence of Roger Federer, the question of whether Nick Kyrgios will progress or regress this season, and what is happening with Novak Djokovic's 2017 season. Koenig also talks about traveling in tennis, how much he watches the women's game and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Tracy Austin from Indian Wells to talk about the state of the women's game right now, Angelique Kerber, Serena Williams and more. Austin also talks about mental toughness, how media obligations can affect match results, if she would ever coach a player in the future and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Sloane Stephens from Indian Wells, who is attending the tournament not as a participant but as an on-looker(and journalist), after undergoing foot surgery earlier in the year. Stephens talks about the injury, her rehab, what she makes of Maria Sharapova's return to tennis next month, her role as commentator as part of the Tennis Channel team in Indian Wells and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Ryan Harrison after winning his first career ATP Title at the Memphis Open last week. He talks about how he was able to turn things around in the past six months after a string of poor results and a dropped ranking and the ups and downs of his pro career, including his struggles with pressure, expectations and finances, and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Stan Smith about his tennis career, but also the adidas athletic sneaker that has come to overshadow those achievements on the court. Wertheim and Smith also talk about college tennis, why the elongated careers of current players build the case for playing college tennis, Smith's coaching and advice to aspiring tennis players and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with 19-year-old, 7-foot-tall Reilly Opelka from a tournament in San Francisco about how he got into tennis, how he deals with the travel and demands of the sport, his friendship with other young, up-and-coming American players, the current landscape of tennis and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Tennis Channel commentator Mary Carillo about what has happened in the tournament so far, including the upsets of Novak Djokovic, Angelique Kerber and Andy Murray and the current remaining players, including Venus and Serena Williams. Wertheim and Carillo breakdown the various storylines of the final days of the tournament, talk about the theme of longevity and discuss Roger Federer, Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On the second episode of the week from the Australian Open in Melbourne, host Jon Wertheim talks with Tennis Channel analyst Paul Annacone to discuss the shocking upset of No. 2 Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams's form and chances at the title, how Djokovic's loss creates opportunities for other players and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Martina Navratilova about the current state of men's and women's tennis, her takeaways from the lead-up tournaments, the recent coaching changes and more. Navratilova also discusses Serena Williams's momentum and preparation heading into Melbourne, the aging and maturation of players during their careers and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with James Blake about Novak Djokovic, the return of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in 2017, Andy Murray's rise to No. 1 and more. Wertheim and Blake also talk about Djokovic without coach Boris Becker, how Serena Williams will fare in 2017, what to expect out of the top-ranked Americans and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode of the SI Tennis Beyond the Baseline Podcast, Sports Illustrated executive editor and host Jon Wertheim talks with Pam Shriver. Former player and current broadcaster for ESPN, Shriver joins the podcast to review the 2016 tennis season, including the rise of Angelique Kerber on the women's side and Andy Murray on the men's side. Shriver also talks about the state of tennis right now, how many more majors she thinks Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will win, how she approaches commentating matches and interacting with players at tournaments and more. Shriver also talks about how she made the transition from being a tennis player into the media world and she makes bold predictions for the 2017 tennis season. Also on the podcast, Shriver discusses how she thinks Maria Sharapova's return to tennis will play out. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with Nicole Gibbs to talk about her plans for the offseason, her assessment of the 2016 season, the reason why she made a racket change for the 2017, why she chose to play college tennis and more. Gibbs also talks about the relationship between betting and tennis and how it affects the way players are treated on social media. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On this week's episode, host Jon Wertheim talks with World No. 23 Jack Sock about his 2016 season, the status of his doubles game, format changes in tennis and the “Next Gen” ATP players. Sock also talks about why he is a sports fan, his 2017 goals, presidential politics in the tennis locker room and more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy