SI Tennis Podcast: USTA Player Development head Martin Blackman
In this week's episode of the SI Tennis Beyond the Baseline Podcast, Sports Illustrated executive editor and host Jon Wertheim talks with USTA Player Development head Martin Blackman.
Blackman was named as Patrick McEnroe's successor for the USTA Player Development general manager position in April 2015 and worked part time at his academy in Boca Raton, Fla., until June. In the podcast, Wertheim and Blackman discuss the challenges that the USTA faces in growing tennis as a sport, including competing against team sports that have more of a social aspect and other barriers of entry for young players. Blackman also talks about his goals for American juniors and the factors, besides ranking, that he believes are important in predicting future success for the young players: athletic ability, toughness, size, competitiveness and more. Blackman also addresses the physical toll and frequency of injury in tennis, female coaches and more.
Listen to the SI Tennis Podcast below and to listen to more episodes, or other Sports Illustrated Podcasts, click here.
