Cracked Interviews [Tennis Podcast] · Cracked Racquets, Bleav

Matías Soto Live from the 2025 Pro Bear Bash

December 23, 2025·23 min·2 clips

Matías Soto reveals he went cold and blurry-eyed during a high-stakes college tiebreak that defined his career.

Host Alex Gruskin interviews former Baylor tennis star Matías Soto at the inaugural 2025 Baylor Pro-Am event. Soto, now a professional player, reflects on his college career and current life on tour. The conversation explores the unique community fostered by the Baylor program and its lasting impact on alumni. Soto details his initial language barrier upon arriving from Chile and how volunteer assistant coach Juan helped him adjust. He credits head coach Michael Woodson for maintaining an open-door policy, calling Woodson one of the closest people in his life outside his family. The Pro-Am event itself unites former Bears, current team members, and the Waco tennis community. Soto names former players like Matt Knoll and Johannes Schretter as role models who taught him to "take care of the program." He recalls his most nervous match ever was the NCAA Final against Florida, surpassing even the pressure of playing Davis Cup for Chile. Soto describes a pivotal match against Rinky Hijikata of UNC where he served for the championship but was broken, a moment he still replays. He contrasts professional tennis, which is more individual, with the team-centric pressure of college dual matches. Soto mentions keeping in touch with college rivals like Micah Braswell, with whom he now practices amicably on tour. A surprising insight is that Soto felt the most pure joy in tennis during his difficult freshman year, as the court was an escape from language and academic struggles. He reveals his girlfriend now understands his deep pride for Baylor after visiting campus and seeing the facilities. Soto believes his biggest career win and toughest loss both occurred in college, specifically citing a Big 12 championship victory. He notes that 44 of the top 100 doubles players in the world once played college tennis, validating it as a pro pathway. Soto is a fan of the new "accelerator" program that provides wild cards to top college players, calling it overdue. His immediate schedule includes tournaments in Bolivia and Chile before representing Chile in the South American Games. The tone is warm, conversational, and nostalgic, blending personal reflection with broader observations about tennis. The style is an informal interview, heavy on storytelling and shared memories between the host and guest. College tennis fans, Baylor supporters, and anyone interested in the transition from collegiate to professional sports would love this episode. Listeners seeking hard-hitting analysis of current tour tactics or news might find it too focused on reminiscence.

As heard by us

A Baylor tennis interview that turns college pressure into pro perspective.

This episode works best when it stays on the edge between Baylor tennis and the pro game. The Baylor Pro-Am setting gives the conversation some real texture: former Bears, the current Baylor team, and the Waco tennis crowd all sit in the same frame, which lets the talk move from…

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Why you'd press play

You want Baylor tennis stories with real pro-match nerves.

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