Served with Andy Roddick
Served with Andy Roddick
Served Media Network
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How Gauff Wins Ugly & Brilliantly, Shanghai’s Family Feud, Plus Wheelchair Tennis Legend Rick Draney
1 hour 52 minutes Posted Oct 14, 2025 at 9:00 am.
Welcome to Served
Racket Rundown: Coco Gauff in Wuhan & Vacherot’s Cinderella run
Introducing Rick Draney: Hall of Fame wheelchair tennis legend
Rick’s story & early injury
Discovering wheelchair tennis & learning to play
Quad vs Para classification explained
Rick’s gold medal in rugby & Paralympic background
Legends of the game: Esther Vergeer, Shingo Kunieda, Tokito Oda
Learning mobility & racket adaptations post-injury
The two-bounce rule and strategy evolution
One-bounce strategy: Shingo’s impact
Early training vs modern high-performance wheelchair tennis
Junior wheelchair tennis & collegiate pathway development
Wheelchair technology evolution
Travel logistics, equipment damage, and costs
Philanthropy & supporting junior players (chairs & programs)
Tires, surfaces, and equipment wear
Equipment timeouts & match incidents
Wheelchair tennis legends deep dive
Esther Vergeer’s legendary streak & statistical greatness
Rick reflects on 50 years of wheelchair tennis & personal journey
Closing thoughts and gratitude Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:52:06
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Show notes
Andy Roddick kicks off this episode with a Racket Rundown presented by Wilson to talk about Coco Gauff's victory over Jessica Pegula in the 2025 Wuhan Open. He also talks about the 2025 Shanghai Rolex Masters results where Valentin Vacherot (World No. 204) defeated first cousin Arthur Rinderknech for the title.
Andy then sits down with International Tennis Hall of Famer Rick Draney, a pioneer of wheelchair tennis and Tennis Hall of Famer. Rick shares how a life-changing injury led him to redefine what was possible from inventing new grip techniques to shaping the classification system that made the quad division official. He and Andy dive deep into the evolution of wheelchair technology, the rise of global stars like Shingo Kunieda, Esther Vergeer, and Tokito Oda, and the growing junior pipeline that’s transforming the sport.
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1:50:22 Closing thoughts and gratitude Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices