Painting Lines - A Tennis Podcast

This week Erik and Aidan dive into a recap of the Italian Open which happened in Rome over the past couple of weeks. With some surprising upsets and shock runs, it was definitely an interesting tournaments. From a double Chilean semifinal, to Djokovic's early exit, and what's to come at the French, the guys give an update on all of the news in the ATP world. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

With the news of Dominic Thiem's retirement, Aidan and Erik delve into his career path. From a young prospect that was the youngest in the top 50, to a top 5 player, and eventually a grand slam winner. With his career taking a path that seemed on the up and up only to be derailed by injuries, Dominic Thiem has a story that should be heard, and Aidan and Erik make sure to hit all the highlights. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

This week Aidan and Erik give a recap of the exciting and unexpected Madrid Masters tournament. Featuring the biggest players in the world, this tournament showed us that injuries can be a massive factor in the deciding of a tournament, as Felix Auger-Aliassime made a run to the final after his opponents simply dropped out of the way. On the other hand, Andrey Rublev seemed to recover his form and battled through tough opponents like Carlos Alcaraz to secure his position in the final. With lots of twists and turns, Erik and Aidan go round by round, breaking down Nadal's run, Tommy Paul's return, and the top American on clay. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

This week Aidan and Erik take a break from the contemporary to take a quick look into the past and examine the top 5 tennis comeback seasons of all time. In a variety of different eras, the discussion goes over comebacks from injuries to suspensions, and goes over the heights that were reached by these players after some of the worst times of their career. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik give an update on the clay court season, with a few tournaments going on this week, the biggest being the ATP 500 in Barcelona. In a shock repetition, we saw the same two finalists Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas, but this time there was a very different result, with Ruud adjusting his strategy and finding success against the Greek. With some hot controversial takes and commentary on what is to come in the next few weeks, this is an episode you don't want to miss. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik give their thoughts and reflection on the first clay court masters 1000 of the year, the Monte Carlo Masters. With the biggest names in tennis on display, the dudes break it down round by round, discussing the shocking upsets, crazy calls, and the impact that this tournament will have on the remainder of the year. On display were the two finalists Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who showed a great return to form in this tournament. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik kick off the clay court season by providing a quick contemporary history lesson about what has been going on in the ATP tour top 25 since the year end of 2022. After briefly going over the first sequence of clay court tournaments for the year, they delve deeply into who is on the rise, who has fallen, and who has stayed consistently great over the last 15 months. Whether it is the rise of Sinner from outside the top 10 to the best in the world, or the fall of Felix Auger Aliassime from number 6 to outside the top 30, Aidan and Erik give you an idea of who has momentum on the tour and which direction they are trending.

Aidan and Erik are back this week to cover the exciting last few weeks of tennis as the Masters 1000 season is kicked off with the sunshine double in Indian Wells and Miami. Starting things off discussing Alcaraz's back to back titles in California, featuring a massive win over red hot sinner in the semis, and the major upset of Djokovic by Luca Nardi. Then moving on to Florida, where Sinner continues his run of nearly unbelievable form by dominating his opponents and making top players like Medvedev and Dimitrov look lost on the court. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

This week Erik and Aidan continue their interview with Rohan Mandaiker from Stapleton Sports Group. Rohan is a sports agent who works with college and professional tennis players as well as athletes from other sports to market themselves as well as negotiating contracts and other deals. Rohan provides some great insight on the background of the tennis industry and what it is like being an agent. He also gives his perspective on young players on the tour as well as scouting and the college tennis scene. Be sure to go back and checkout the first part of our interview with Rohan!

This week Erik and Aidan are excited to welcome on Rohan Mandaiker from Stapleton Sports Group. Rohan is a sports agent who works with college and professional tennis players as well as athletes from other sports to market themselves as well as negotiating contracts and other deals. Rohan provides some great insight on the background of the tennis industry and what it is like being an agent. He also gives his perspective on young players on the tour as well as scouting and the college tennis scene. Be sure to check back next week for part 2 of our interview with Rohan! Rohan Instagram @rohvn Stapleton Sports group Stapletonsportsgroup.com Instagram - @stapletonsg

Aidan and Erik return this week to give an update on what has been going on in the last couple of weeks after the slow period following the Australian Open. There are six main tournaments to discuss, including Del Ray Beach, Rio, Qatar, Rotterdam and Los Cabos. With many changes like Sinner moving up to number 3, Rune firing Boris Becker, and some action packed tournaments, it is certain to be an exciting coming weeks and a fun podcast. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik give a recap of the three tournaments that have happened in the weeks following the Australian Open, and discuss the unfortunately boring time of tennis that occurs after the Australian Open and before the sunshine double begins. Tennis sits in a time where small tournaments occur but with little hype or buildup for them. After discussing Tommy Paul's win in Dallas over Marcos Giron, and Ugo Humbert's win over Grigor Dimitrov, Aidan and Erik discuss what is to come in the upcoming tournaments and preview what they will be watching for. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik jump into the post AO slump of tennis by starting a new series in which they discuss the "Best on Tour." In this episode they cover the top 3 forehands, backhands, and drop shots on tour in their opinions. While for many they are in agreement, for others they felt there was more ambiguity on who stood out as the best. This led to a fun discussion and overall smooth 30 minutes. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik give a recap of the last few rounds of the Australian Open, starting off by recapping their pick'em from last week's episode, given the shocking upsets that occurred in week two, to commenting on the elimination of the top two seeds Djokovic and Alcaraz. They remark on whether or not time on court played as much of a role as they had predicted as Sinner and Medvedev met in the final, and what this could mean for the rest of the year. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik give an update on the first week of the Australian Open, a week that started off with excellent matches but a shockingly low number of upsets. Day by day they break down the matches that stood out to them before jumping into a Grand Slam Pick'em where they forecast some expected results from the 3rd and 4th rounds of the tournament. Be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik start the new year with a lot of new updates in the tennis world. A few different tournaments have finished up as 2024 begins, including the Brisbane International, Hong Kong Open, and the United Cup. The discussion starts in Brisbane, discussing Dimitrov's win, Rune's run, and the early exit from Ben Shelton. The discussion also covers Nadal's injury and withdrawal from the Australian Open. The discussion then moves onto Hong Kong and the United Cup before finishing up with some segments. Be sure to check in next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik return from the hollidays this week and are pumped this week to welcome on Gill Gross, a great broadcaster and tennis content creator. The interview starts off by looking at Gill's background in tennis, from being a ballboy at the US Open to his broadcasting work at Syracuse and eventually the US Open Radio. Then, leaning on Gill's knowledge of the sport's current standing, the podcast turns toward Gill's perspective on not only the past season of tennis, but also projecting what is to come in 2024. Going over underrated players, next years big stars, and much more, this is not an episode to miss. Be sure to check back next week for another video! Gill's links Youtube - GillGross Twitter/X - Gill_Gross Tiktok - Gillgross

Aidan and Erik discuss the 2023 season in full, breaking down their picks for the end of season awards, including newcomer of the year, comeback player of the year, match of the year and more. In some places, they agree that there was one player that was undisputed as the king of the category, but in other places they disagree, and usually include a couple of honorable mentions that they also considered picking for that category. Let us know if you agree, disagree, or are on the fence with their picks, and be sure to check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik discuss the Next Gen Finals for 2023, discussing the known and unknown about each of the top 8 players under 21. Well, not really the top 8 under 21. With so much talent the top 4 guys were able to sit out the event and still the level of player was crazy in this event. With guys like Arthur Fils, Luca Van Assche, Alex Michelson and Hamad Medjedovic, the level in this event was off the charts. If you were unfamiliar with some of the guys in the event and want to learn more as well as hear our thoughts, make sure to tune in, and check back next week for another episode!

Aidan and Erik discuss the final eight in the davis cup. Starting things off in the quarterfinals they talk about the reigning champ Canada's early elimination and how big of an impact the lack of Felix Auger Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov was for the team. Another notable absence was Andy Murray for Great Britain's team. In the semifinals there was a heavyweight matchup between Italy and Serbia, with a shocking result coming out of the match between Djokovic and Sinner, possibly forecasting the future for these two players. As per the title, Italy won the final tie to become the Davis Cup Champions for 2023. A brief but fun episode this week, and be sure to check back next week for another episode!