Kate Fahey has a lot going on.

The #2-ranked women's singles player is fresh off a gold medal at the PPA Vintage Open in Sacramento. And this weekend, she's getting married in New Jersey.

In between, she found some time to join Zane Navratil on the PicklePod ("a lifelong dream," she joked).

The two delve into a range of topics, like how the pros handled playing with wooden paddles and why Zane thinks Roger Federer was one of the most boring tennis pros of all time (a scathing hot take we'll address at a later date).

Kate has become one of the most dominant pros on tour. She's fiery and ultra-competitive. And has a penchant for screaming on-court, sometimes at herself, sometimes directly in the face of an opponent.

It rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Kate knows this. And she's working on it. But she's not about to apologize, either. It's not personal, but it is a part of sports.

"It's not in my nature to be completely mute. I've tried it and I play horribly. It's not who I am," she told Zane. "I've always worked on accepting that's who I am. Some people aren't going to accept it, some people aren't going to like it. That's OK."

Kate has played competitive tennis since she was very young, culminating in a decorated, All-American career at The University of Michigan. Yelling has just always been part of her game.

"It's always been that way," she said.

"It's something that I've always done."

Kate concedes she's "an extremely competitive person." And she's far from the only pro on tour who gets vocal during a match.

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But there's more to her emotional state on the court than the heat of the moment.

"I get stressed on the court, I get anxious like everyone does," she said. "Sometimes it's just a way to let go of those emotions. To just take everything – all the anger, all the excitement – and just release it."

And like most everyone else, Kate is aware of what her critics are saying about her.

"I started working with a sports psychologist this year who has helped immensely. I think a lot of it is pent-up anger that I have on court. But it's also the hate that I get online. I do get a lot of hate," she said.

"Reading those messages, it's hard. It hurts. A lot of the time, people don't realize it does affect us. That's something that I've worked on a lot."

She's also working on directing her emotions elsewhere, rather than the face of an opponent across the net.

Just don't expect her to go quiet altogether. It's not who she is. And it's not the sport she signed up for.

"I think pickleball should be a loud sport," she said.