In this episode, I chat with ATP doubles player Nick Monroe.
Nick turned pro in 2004 and has since won four doubles titles. He reached a career-high ranking of #30 in the world, and in 2020 he made it to the quarterfinals of the French Open.
We talk about World Team Tennis, his new role at the Tennis Channel, how he adjusts his strategy when playing with different doubles partners, and what the 24 hours leading up to a big match looks like. We discuss serve strategy, different formations, and what club-level tennis players can focus on to improve their aggression at the net.
I also ask Nick what it will take to make professional doubles more popular. At the end of this interview, Nick tells an incredible (scary) story of when he was shot at, on the way to a tournament.
Interview Notes from this Podcast
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- Nick played World Team Tennis for the Washington Kastles in 2020
- See why Will loves World Team Tennis here
- Nick became an analyst and commentator for the Tennis Channel
- He played college tennis at North Carolina for coach Sam Paul
- Trained with world #1 doubles player Don Johnson
- Nick majored in communications
- In 2012, Nick won his first challenger with Maciek Sykut in Colombia
- After that, Nick won two more challengers in Mexico with Simon Stadler
- Open by Andre Agassi*
- Nick made the quarterfinals of the 2020 French Open with doubles partner Tommy Paul
- Strategy for playing doubles with singles players
- Nick has his partner poach early in the match
- Tell them to hit more forehands
- Nick watches video on Youtube or TennisTV the day before matches
- Nick talks about serve strategy and when to use different serving formations in doubles
- Other people mentioned
- Kubot & Melo (doubles team)
- Diego Schwartzman (doubles opponent)
- Taylor Fritz (former doubles partner)
- John Isner (former doubles partner)
- Steve Johnson (former doubles partner)
- Favorite Books
- Tennis Book: Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert*
- Non-Tennis Book: Mamba Mentality by Kobe Bryant*
- Favorite Tournaments
- Swedish Open in Bolstad
- Australian Open (favorite Grand Slam)
Thanks, enjoyed the Nick Monroe podcast. Very interesting to hear the perspective of a dude who’s toiled along on tour so long without ever being a big name player. Got my fingers crossed for him to go deep in AO, certainly off to a good start.