UP304 ReThinking Sport: Inside Women's Tennis

Marina Erakovic's family fled war torn former Yugoslavia when she was a small child, and she grew up in New Zealand where her precocious tennis talent was nurtured. After winning nine titles in a thirteen year career on the WTA Tour, she is now a business consultant working for PwC in Auckland. She takes us inside the reality of the professional tennis circuit, comparing her experience with that seen on Break Point, the current Netflix series. We talk about the future of tennis as an entertainment and commercial product, the rise of paddle and pickle ball, Naomi Osaka's role in elevating the conversation around mental health of elite athletes, the post-Serena Williams era, and we question the existing structures of tennis federations against a backdrop of changes in viewing habits and participation rates around the world.  This is an episode of Re: Thinking Sport, our series created in collaboration with Portas, the global strategy consultancy dedicated to sport and physical activity.  Joining Marina Erakovic is Zineb Soulami, Sports Consultant at Portas Consulting and a passionate tennis player since the age of eight.  Zineb has a deep knowledge in racquet sports and leads the Active Places practice in Asia. Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.