Australian Open preview, a Mexican star on her French Open, women’s tour success

01/11/24 • 33 min

It’s a new year and time for our Grand Slam correspondent to preview American and Southern players. USTA General Manager, Player Development Martin Blackman calls in from Down Under with high hopes for players with Georgia roots: Coco Gauff, Taylor Townsend, Ben Shelton & Christopher Eubanks. Yolanda “Yola” Ramírez Ochoa won mixed doubles and finished as a singles finalist twice at Roland Garros. The former No. 6 in the world from Mexico chats about her illustrious career with her son, Ponch, a top-flight player himself.

Previous Episode

It’s a wrap: Outstanding interviews in 2023!

Finishing our fourth season, “Talking Tennis Southern Style” wraps up 2023 with compelling excerpts of eight of our favorite interviews. We are proud to highlight insightful conversations with these guests:

Michelle Curry of the Althea Gibson CTA
Tennis memorabilia collector and USTA Kentucky Past President Mike Eden
USTA Chairman of the Board and President Dr. Brian Hainline
USTA Georgia’s Darren Potkey
Jermaine Jenkins, practice partner of Serena and Venus Williams
NJTL leader Belen Gomez-Jordana
No. 1 Wheelchair Tennis player Zane Goodwin & mom Lara Polk
Southern Hall of Famer Keith Richardson

Next Episode

BHM: Calvin Kemp plus advocating for tennis courts

With the number of tennis players growing in the last five years, more tennis courts are needed. While some courts are being converted to pickleball courts, the USTA Southern Advocacy Task Force is enabling grassroots advocates to make the case for adding, and not reducing, the number of tennis courts. Former Board Member Paul Pittman chairs the task force and explains the advocacy tools provided by USTA Southern.

In our first episode of Black History Month, we interview Calvin Kemp of Lafayette, La. Kemp was honored with the 2023 Southern Tennis Professional of the Year and received another award, the Member Organization of the Year, for Acadiana Serves. The award citation mentioned, “As an ATP Certified GPTCA International Coach, PTR Certified Coach, and Tennis Performance Trainer, Calvin brings a wealth of expertise.”