Down The T

With Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu capturing titles in Flushing Meadows, I take a look back at the brackets and biggest storylines to come from the 2021 US Open. I also recap Tennis in the Land, the debut WTA 250 event in Cleveland that led in to the US Open. Since season two of Down The T was based around that tournament, I cap things off with an inside look at what it's like to be both a media member and volunteer at a professional tennis tournament.

Another side to the tennis world is the communications and media aspect that players must fulfill after matches throughout tournaments. After meeting Bryan Shapiro (Senior Communications Manager for the WTA) at the Cleveland WTA 250 event in August, I thought it only fitting to learn more about a day in the life of a communications professional on tour. Bryan shares the ins and outs of his role and talks about his favorite places to travel for tennis around the world.

I've always wondered how does one become a chair umpire in tennis, and then rise through the rankings to officiate matches at grand slams and Olympic games. My questions are answered on season two, episode four thanks to Tom Sweeney. Tom joins me and details how the offer of a free lunch set off his journey from a small town in Australia to umpiring at all four slams and two Olympics. Plus he spills the secrets on what it takes to be a great chair umpire.

Tennis critic Gill Gross has been watching and analyzing the finer points of tennis matches for years. His YouTube channel "Monday Match Analysis" has more than 11,000 subscribers and his podcast "3" is a part of the Tennis Channel Network. Gill truly fell in love with tennis after being a ball boy for two summers at the US Open and spills the beans about a day in the life of a grand slam ball boy.

Broadcasting a tennis match is vastly different than calling a football or basketball game. I chatted with Noah Eagle who does Play-by-Play for Tennis Channel (and is also the voice of the LA Clippers) about how he preps for matches, what it's like to travel to Roland Garros mid-Pandemic, and the current state of both American and international tennis.

For the first time ever, Cleveland is hosting a WTA 250 event this summer. Tennis in the Land is set for August 22-28 and serves as the final tune up for the US Open. I sat down with tournament director Kyle Ross to learn about the challenges of putting on a tournament during the COVID-19 pandemic and what it was like to get a new event off the ground.

With the final Grand Slam of the year on hand, I break down everything to look forward to at Roland Garros. Hear about the fan situation and work-in-progress that is COVID testing, along with an in depth breakdown and analysis of the men's and women's singles draws.

I'm rejoined by Matt Dowell (S1, E3) to preview the 2020 US Open, just the year's second Grand Slam. We talked about the recent social justice movement led by Naomi Osaka, the newly formed PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association) and what it means for the sport along with breaking down the men's and women's singles brackets.

I caught up with Bobby Banck, a former professional tennis player who coached a handful of top ten men and women on the ATP & WTA Tours. Bobby is the head pro at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas and heavily involved in a charity near and dear to our hearts called Team Luke Hope For Minds.

I spoke to club pro and well known racquet stringer Gerald Sarmiento about the science and technology behind tennis racquets. Gerald has strung for 80 of the top 100 men's and women's players including Novak Djokovic and tells us how one becomes a Master Racquet Technician.

I talked to Matt Dowell, a current Sports Reporter/Anchor on WACH-TV in Columbia, SC and former Tennis Channel intern and Williams Sisters/Roger Federer superfan about the current state of tennis and the stoppage due to Coronavirus. Matt recently created 64-player 'Greatest of All Time' men's and women's brackets and is an avid tennis historian.

I spoke with Andy Jackson, head men's tennis coach at the University of Arkansas about the season being canceled due to Coronavirus. We then went down memory lane and traced Jackson's career from player at Kentucky to coach in Fayetteville. History buffs, stay tuned for a cool tidbit at the end.

I sat down with Dennis Deninger, current professor at Syracuse University and longtime Coordinating Producer at ESPN. We reminisced on how Dennis brought live tennis coverage to ESPN, elevated coverage of the Grand Slams and was instrumental in developing the Hawk-Eye instant replay system that's now a standard in professional tennis. Dennis reflects on the challenges of producing live tennis and comments on the Big Three players rewriting history.