Episodes

  • Brian Teacher 1980 Australian Open Champion
    Oct 7 2022

    Brian Teacher,
    1980 Australian Open Champion
    Pro Tennis Coach
    Hall of Fame inductee
     
    Teacher was born in San Diego, California. He attended Crawford High School in San Diego, graduating in 1972. He later lived in Beverly Hills, California.
    He later studied for his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business.


    Tennis career
    Junior, high school, and college

    Teacher won a CIF singles title in 1972 while at Crawford High School.[8]

    In 1972, he won the boys' 18 singles and doubles titles.[9] At the University of California-Los Angeles, where he studied economics, he won the Pacific-8 singles and doubles championship in 1974, was an All-American from 1973–76, and was a member of the UCLA teams that won the NCAA championship in 1975 and 1976.[7]


    Professional career

    He reached the finals in the South Australian and New South Wales Opens in 1977. In 1978, at the Seiko World Super Tennis Tournament in Tokyo, Teacher upset UCLA graduates Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe before losing in the final to Björn Borg 6–3, 6–4.[10]

    In 1980, he won the Australian Open, becoming the second Jewish player to win a men's Grand Slam Singles event (after Dick Savitt).[1] He won the final over Kim Warwick of Australia in straight sets.[11][12] With his Grand Slam victory, Teacher is one of only five American male players in the Open era to have won a single Grand Slam event (along with Michael Chang, Vitas Gerulaitis, Andy Roddick, and Roscoe Tanner). Seven more Americans have more than one Slam (Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, Jim Courier, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, and 

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    28 mins
  • Jill Craybas
    Jun 20 2022

    Jill N. Craybas 

    (born July 4,) is an American former professional tennis player.

    From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws; her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships where she reached the fourth round, which included wins over Marion Bartoli and Serena Williams. By the time she retired in 2013, she was one of the oldest players on the WTA Tour at 39 years of age, as well as the longest serving, having turned pro in 1996.
    Craybas was born in Providence, Rhode Island.
    She received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Andy Brandi's Florida Gators women's tennis team in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition from 1993 to 1996. As a senior, she won the 1996 NCAA women's singles tennis championship. She was the 1995–96 recipient of the Honda Sports Award for Tennis, recognizing her as the outstanding collegiate female tennis player of the year. 

    Craybas graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1996, and has said in interviews that she hopes to enter film or television production when her playing career ends. She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2008. 

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    37 mins
  • CiCi Bellis
    Jun 14 2022

    Coached by Dieter Kindlmann.
    Likes to be known as ‘CiCi'... Born in San Francisco and resides in Atherton, CA... Was home schooled and is an only child... Turned professional after 2016 US Open, forgoing the opportunity to attend Stanford University on a tennis scholarship... Bellis was ranked the No.1 junior tennis player in the world in September 2014, and was declared 2014 ITF Junior World Champion... As part of a US Tennis Association mentoring program, talks on the phone a couple of times a week with 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert.


    Career Highlights

    ADDITIONAL
    WTA 125K Series Titles - Singles (1): 2016 Honolulu.


    Career in Review

    2019 - Reached QF in her sole tournament, at WTA 125K Series event in Houston.

    2018 - QF at Doha (l. to Halep); reached 2r four times; fell 1r once (Australian Open); did not play after Miami due to injury; had four surgeries in June, September, November and March of 2019 on her right arm and elbow.

    2017 - Broke into the Top 50 for the first time in her career in 2017, finishing as the No.6 American…Ended the year at No.47 but posted a career-high singles ranking of No.35 on August 14, 2017…Youngest player in the Top 50 and one of four teenagers inside the Top 100…Reached first two tour-level semifinals, at Mallorca (l. Goerges) and Stanford (l. Vandeweghe)…Became third American since turn of 21st century to reach 3r at Roland Garros (also Harkleroad, 2003, and Townsend, 2014) before turning 19 years old…Registered first-career Top 10 win over No.6 A.Radwanska in Dubai, becoming youngest player to do so since 2014 US Open (Bencic d. No.7 Kerber) and first American to do so since 2009 Wimbledon (Oudin d. No.6 Jankovic)…Awarded 2017 Newcomer of the Year (international media vote).

    2016 - Debut Top 100 season (finished ranked No.90); reached QF twice at Stanford (l. to V.Williams) in career-first QF and Quebec City (l. to Boserup); achieved best Grand Slam result to date by reaching 3r at US Open (as qualifier, l. to eventual champion Kerber); fell in 1r at Miami (l. to Puig); won title at WTA $125 Series event at Honolulu (d. Zhang in F); 2r exit at WTA $125K Series - San Antonio; won two ITF singles titles.

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    29 mins