Angela Kulikov Interview: On Net Skills, Dealing with Injury, & Doubles Strategy

Doubles Only Tennis Podcast

Angela Kulikov is a WTA doubles player with a career-high ranking of 57 in the world. She played college tennis at USC where she was the #1 doubles player in the country. She joins me from California as she rehabs an ankle injury.
We discussed her wide array of hobbies including flag football, coaching tennis, and now, golf. She shares her path to becoming a professional tennis player and how she's dealt with injuries, using them to reset and propel her game forward.
You'll learn:

• How Angela improved her game during COVID.
• Why she and her partner, Sophie Chang, play two-back on her 2nd serve.
• The "contingency" or "sparkle" serve play.
• How she thinks about using different serve formations.
• A serve and volley drill that helps with timing the first volley.
• The Reuleaux Triangle framework to follow at the net.
• Angela's GAT method for decision-making during points (this is at the very end).

Finally, she shares a few book recommendations, her favorite tournament, and how to make doubles more popular.
Angela has a great doubles mind and we'll plan on a round two with her to discuss the psychology of doubles (she has a master's degree in applied psychology). Hopefully, we'll see her back on court soon.
Mentioned in this episode:

• Sophie Chang Interview
• Doubles Reuleaux Triangle

See the shownotes for this episode here: https://www.thetennistribe.com/angela-kulikov-interview/

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• Net Play Strategy for Doubles: https://www.thetennistribe.com/net-play-strategy-for-doubles-ebook/

Chapters

1. Tennis Journey and Strategy With Angela (00:00:00)

2. Journey From Tennis to Football (00:14:29)

3. Doubles Partnership Strategies and Player Attributes (00:21:46)

4. Keys to Success at the Net (00:36:28)

5. Strategies for Doubles Tennis Success (00:48:00)

6. Tennis Player Injury and Recovery Progress (00:53:28)

7. Winning Percentages in Tennis Strategy (01:07:59)