Tennis Days With Dave Gertler

Today’s guest on the Tennis Days Podcast is American tennis writer, and college player, Nick Nemeroff. Nick (@NNemeroff) writes for Tennis View Magazine, which has been one of the premier tennis publications in the print world since 2008. Thanks for tuning in, subscribing and following me on twitter @davegertler – any feedback of show-related questions can be emailed to davegertler@yahoo.com

Here's a bonus episode of Tennis Days. @matte_johnson and @davegertler furrowed our collective brows about matches that took place in week 1 on Roland Garros, before working ourselves into a rather comical lather (see later episodes) Rather than lump it all into one huge podcast episode, it's being released in mini episodes like this one, where we discuss some of the trends developing in women's tennis, inspired by Muguruzan-scale upsets that typified Week 1. To contact us about anything show-related, email: davegertler@yahoo.com

Welcome to the first French Open edition of the Tennis Days Podcast. Last week, Roland Garros saw an unprecedented series of upsets by young and upcoming women, over their more established elite opponents.   Matt Johnson and I discuss the overall significance of these upsets, as well as a healthy, under-the-radar grand slam performance by Sam Stosur, the last remaining Australian in the singles competition.   Stay tuned for parts two and three of our RG chat, as we get a bit silly, and show the comedic effect that Grand Slam sleep deprivation can have.    

Last week, Matt Johnson and I caught up to break down and analyse all the action from Madrid, with an eye on the Italian Open which is taking place this week. Here's part 2 of that chat - we discuss big performers at Madrid Sharapova, Stosur, Matosevic, and Simona Halep. Also do my best to bring you an update of the latest action from Rome. Please enjoy this podcast, and if you like it, tell a friend about it. Podcasts are awesome, man!  

Tennis Days Podcast Episode 21 is live, fun-sized, available and at your service. We’ve got some highly relevant discussion of some of the incredibly dynamic players that have been in action this week in Madrid. We discuss Dominic Thiem’s upset of the year over world No.3 Wawrinka, the deteriorating mindset of your Fogninis in contrast to the galvanising professionalism of players like Grigor Dimitrov, and, one of the surprise packages of Madrid, Ernests Gulbis, who was the survivor of the ‘Badass Corner’ of the men’s draw. We at Tennis Days hope you enjoy this fun-sized package of podcast, and look forward to bringing you another one in the next few days. Follow @matte_johnson and @davegertler on twitter,  and BE OUR FRIENDS!!!

Are you having a tennis day? We try to make every episode of the Tennis Days Podcast a record that people in 10 - or even 100 years - might listen to and still find relevant. But that doesn’t stop benchmark 20th episode from being an unapologetic live commentary on the world of tennis, interspersed with breaking news events as they happen in Monte Carlo and from around the Fed Cup. As well as tournaments, we focus in on individual players like Roger Federer, Milor Raonic, Stanislas Wawrinka, Jamie Hampton, Dominika Cibulkova and David Ferrer. This episode also has record numbers of fun facts towards the end, is embellished with more (of my original) music than ever before, and Matt Johnson and I putting each other on the spot a record number of times about our cutting-edge tennis insights. Thanks so much for listening, and subscribing on iTunes and Stitcher to the Tennis Days Podcast, as well as following @davegertler and @matte_johnson PLUS liking us at Facebook.com/TennisDays       &nbs

Thanks for tuning in to the latest episode of Tennis Days. This week features a chat between Matt Johnson and I, as we cover a comprehensive cross-section of the tennis world’s news, starting of course with tennis Twitter's April Fools' antics. Topics discussed include Serena Williams' early loss at Charleston, and the effect this will have on the rest of the Family Circle Cup. We also examine recent reports following the ITF's publishing of drug testing figures across the tennis world.  After a quick preview of this weekend's Davis Cup quarterfinals, Matt and I begin our discussion of who we think are the players to look out for on clay this year, starting with the women, to be continued with the men next episode, The Crystal Ball of Clay, Part II, coming soon.

This week, we bring you a chat that was recorded literally during the quarterfinals of the Sony Open combined event in Miami. Delpo is out of action until further notice after successful wrist surgery, Lendl is no longer coaching Murray, but still seems to be 'in his corner'. Bernard Tomic has just broken a record for speediest loss ever in ATP history, after playing Jarko Nieminen in the first round. We discuss that in context of Lleyton Hewitt's achievement the very same day of reaching 600 career wins, which is second only to Nadal and Federer amongst active players. Casey Dellacqua continues to acquit herself well against the world's best at the highest level, and Matt tells me a little about how he tracks not just WTA and ATP rankings, but the provisional rankings as well, and we mention the websites that can give you that info. RUNNING ORDER:  7:50 Bad news bears. Murray, Tomic, Delpo, Monfils. 22:40 Good news Casey, and how Matt tracks provisional rankings. 32:00 Lleyton's 600 achievement. 35:00 N

After a review of the Indian Wells finals, Matt Johnson and I discuss the men’s and women’s Miami draw and the question of whether Murray (who since recording has ended his coaching relationship with Ivan Lendl) has any chance of defending his Miami title. Other discussion points: The injury cloud over many players in the top half of the men’s draw, including Del Potro, who since we recorded this chat, has withdrawn due to continuing wrist complaint. Becker leaves town, Novak gets his first title of the year. I get my feelings out about how Boris needs to ‘leave Novak alone!’ Flavia Pennetta and Fabio Fognini raise the hopes for the future of Italian tennis. We discuss a question posed by Marc McGowan on twitter – is there a shift in the pecking order at the top of the Australian women’s game? Show Breakdown: 0:00 Indian Wells Women’s final 9:45 – IW Men’s final 17:40 – Miami Women’s Draw top half 35:50 – Women’s and Men&rsq

Last week before losing my voice, I had a chat with Matt Johnson (@matte_johnson) where we had a thorough look into the Indian Wells draws as they stood after only one day of main draw play. Even though a lot of the players we discuss have exited the tournament at this (round of 16/quarterfinals stage) a lot of them are still in, and the chat is highly relevant to the storylines that are making 2014 a rivetting year to be following the ATP and WTA tours.  

Tennis Days is back with an interview with the Professional Tennis Registry's (PTR) recently crowned Female Player of the Year, Liz Kobak, fresh from the organisation's International Symposium, held in February at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Liz's fantastic rendition of the Star Spangled Banner is also included after the chat, as is a quick preview of Episode 16, where I'll chat with Matt Johnson about Indian Wells.

In this episode, I'm lucky enough to bring you a chat that I had with published author and clinical psychologist, Steven Laurent. This first was timely in that Steve's first book on anger management, The Anger Fallacy, is about to be launched on 22nd March in Glebe, Sydney. To contact Steve, or find out about the book or its launch, go to angerfallacy.com

Tennis Days episode no.13 is a continuation of what Matt Johnson aptly describes as ‘a very thorough investigation’ into some of the predicted storylines of the ATP 500/WTA International event in Acapulco, as well as straight ATP 500 action in Dubai.   We pick up where we left off in Part 1, at a point where Matt and I were chatting about the plight of Australia’s top male players, we discuss the notable absence of Stan Wawrinka from Indian Wells leadup events, and the chances of top seeds Dominika Cibulkova and Eugenie Bouchard at Acapulco, before delving deeper into the WTA qualifying rounds which at the time were still going on, discussing Aussie Ash Barty’s chances of making the main draw (which she did manage to). I also make a controversial and somewhat mean-spirited statement about not wanting rising WTA star Ajla Tomljanovic to win too many matches, lest I have to keep having to spell her name.   After some discussion about the young guns - Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Ra

Matt Johnson is a Melbourne-based sports multimedia producer, photographer and photo editor, who keeps an extremely close eye on the goings on of the ATP and WTA tour week-to-week. I had the pleasure of chatting to Matt about upcoming tournaments in Acapulco and Dubai, which see a return to action of some of the cream of the ATP crop, namely Roger Federer, Juan Martin Del Potro and Novak Djokovic, as well as appearances from the reliable David Ferrer, and a (hopefully) resurgent Andy Murray.  Though the aim was a draw breakdown, we couldn’t help but go off on a few tangents, and in the end, we recorded a chat of just over two hours. Here’s part 1 of that chat. Part 2 coming soon.

Tennis Days Podcast episode 11 features another in-depth chat with Victorian-based tennis journalist James Crabtree (@jamesacrabtree) fresh from his involvement in media activities during the Australian Open, and equipped with a great anecdote (accompanied by fantastic impersonation) of his interview with David Ferrer. Leading into my chat with James I’ve thrown together a recap of the last few days’ activity on the ATP and WTA tours, with the backdrop, as per usual, of some of my original instrumental studio recordings! So pop those earbuds in and go for a walk, do your washing, or fire up the Bluetooth and go for a drive. Either way, make sure you have yourself a Tennis Day.

Chief journalist of Acelandtennis.com.au Marc McGowan, and I, continue our chat from Episode 9 about top contenders for the Australian Davis Cup team, the change in dymanic since Kyrgios and Kokkinakis came on the scene - and the influence that may have over Bernard Tomic - plus we share some more thoughts about tennis journalism, including our experience as part of the tennis twitter universe...the twennisverse? As always, thanks so much for listening and subscribing on iTunes, and please email me at davegertler@yahoo.com if you have any feedback or things you'd like to be discussed in future episodes!

Genuine fans and supporters of Australian tennis will enjoy this conversation with Marc McGowan of Acelandtennis.com.au  Marc goes into detail about his recent experiences at Burnie, Launceston and West Lakes events, and expands on his thoughts about players like Matt Barton, Jordan Thompson, Olivia Rogowska and Naiktha Bains. These are the guys and girls who sweat it out on the backcourts of the Australian Pro Tour, competing in 15-50K events over the Australian summer, and throughout the year. Their stories don’t get covered by mainstream media, which is where Marc, chief journalist at Aceland’s, mission statement begins – to help us follow the trajectories of these talented young athletes who play in the less known and celebrated echelons of the tennis world.     Check out this episode and subscribe to the Tennis Days Podcast

This week’s episode of the Tennis Days Podcast is a quick one, but definitely worth checking out. Liz Kobak and Dave break down the finals of the Australian Open, and the stories leading up to the first grand slam of the year having two first-time champions. I also give a quick run-down of Davis Cup action that's taken place so far in Jan/Feb. Check it out, be sure to click 'subscribe' on iTunes.

As the first grand slam of 2014 was sharpening towards an exciting crescendo, I had the opportunity to talk to former WTA player and multimedia journalist Liz Kobak, via Skype from her New York home. Liz told me about some of her experiences competing at junior grand slams all over the world, with her generation of women's players, who include Sara Errani, Sabine Lisicki and Dominika Cibulkova. We also talked about some of the results and prediction we have for the rest of the 2014 Australian Open. Enjoy Episode 7 - the first of 2014. Photo credit: Andrew Brucker

The latest episode of the Tennis Days Podcast features a section of an interview I did with Marc McGowan, the man behind Acelandtennis.com.au, a website that follows closely the news and progress of up-and-coming Australian tennis players who are flying under the radar of the mainstream media, yet who still actually perform at an elite level, travelling around the country and the world accrueing ranking points that place them amongst the top 1,000 tenis players in the world, or thereabouts – no mean feat. Like a lot of tennis fans out there, Marc is starting to get excited about the prospects of some young Aussie players who appear to be breaking through to the upper echelons of the game – players like Jordan Thompson, 19, Maddison Inglis, 15, and Akira Santillan, 16. Marc and I also chat about some of the ethics and nuances of being a sports journalist and maintaining good relations with players, at the same time as being a straight shooter and providing comprehensive match reports and interviews