Alex Gruskin: Inside College Tennis, Ben Shelton, Rafael Jodar and the Challenger Tour

In this episode, Sam Jacot and Jerome Coombe sit down with Alex Gruskin, host of Cracked Racquets and one of the leading voices covering college tennis and the ATP Challenger Tour.Alex takes us inside the growing world of college tennis, exploring why more young players are choosing the American college route, the unique atmosphere around the sport and how the system is producing a new generation of stars. We discuss the journeys of players including Ben Shelton, Rafael Jodar and Learner Tien, and why college tennis has become such a successful pathway into the professional game.Alex also shares stories from life on the road with Cracked Racquets, travelling to Challenger and WTA events, conducting on-court interviews and getting to know players away from the spotlight. We hear what it's like spending week after week around the Challenger Tour, the buzz of discovering emerging talent and the people and stories that make travelling so rewarding.Cracked Racquets: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/cracked-racquets/id6445044099https://www.youtube.com/c/crackedracquets🎙️ Our background episode & our special in-focus 20th episode are in this feed if you’d like to learn more about who we are and why we created Tales from Tennis.Episodes every Wednesday. 🚨 Coming up next time, Sam and Jerome will be joined by a podcast host. Subscribe now. 📲Follow us on social media:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talesfromtennis/X: https://x.com/TalesFromTennisThe podcast is independently produced and not affiliated with or endorsed by the ATP.