Jofre Porta is one of a handful of tennis coaches who can say they´ve worked with two world number 1 players from a young age. The Spanish coach helped guide Carlos Moya from juniors to top of the ATP rankings, and also worked with Rafael Nadal as a junior. Jofre has previously worked for the Spanish Tennis Federation, he´s been a tennis commentator and is currently the Director of Global Tennis Team Academy in Mallorca. In this episode, he talks to Dan about coaching Moya and Nadal, why Spain p...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 160
At 14, Josh Sapwell was tipped to be the next Andy Murray. Having won National and European events as a junior, he became the U14 Junior World Champion in 2010, winning the prestigious Orange Bowl event in Miami. Josh was only the 3rd British player to win the boys event. He went on to be a Quarter-Finalist at Junior Wimbledon, but a catalogue of events led to him quitting the sport at the tender age of 20. In today´s episode Josh speaks about his journey and why he stopped playing for the first...
Apr 12, 2022•59 min•Ep. 159
In today´s episode we´re unpacking the biomechanics of the serve with Dr Mark Kovacs. Known as the number one serve doctor in the world, Dr Mark Kovacs has held a number of roles in elite sport including performance physiologist, sport technology consultant, researcher, coach, speaker and author. You can check out his awesome courses here. A former pro player and NCAA Doubles Champion, Mark has worked with dozens of tennis players including John Isner, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys. Listen to...
Apr 05, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 158
This episode aims to shine a light on a very different area of tennis: betting and gambling. Tennis is one of the most popular sports to bet on, but match fixing is also an ongoing issue. Dave Pilgrim has over 20 years of experience in the betting industry, and is currently a betting and data expert at Sky Bet. Dave applies that expertise to tennis and has a close lens on how the tennis governing bodies and the betting companies are working together to create a safe and controlled environment fo...
Mar 29, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 157
In today´s episode we speak to Australian tennis player Matt Reid. Matt has partnered some of the biggest names in Australian tennis during his career, including Nick Kyrgios, Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic. He has a career high ranking of number 60 in Doubles and 183 in singles. Matt has consistently been part of Australia´s Davis Cup squad as a hitting partner and unofficial mentor to the team. He also coached Nick Kyrgios for two years, whilst playing doubles together. Matt gives us a fasci...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 156
“It feels like he´s got the momentum right now¨ “There´s been a big shift in momentum in this set¨ “Everything seems to be going against her¨ We hear phrases like these a lot when we watch tennis, and we can feel them when we play. But what really is momentum? In today´s episode we speak to Alistair Higham who is an international expert on matchplay and momentum in sport. Alistair has written online courses and two best-selling books on Momentum, and regularly speaks at conferences around the wo...
Mar 15, 2022•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 155
Today is International Women´s Day and what better way to mark it than hearing from one of the most recognisable faces and voices in tennis. Barbara Schett-Eagle reached a career high of number 7 in the world in singles and 8 in doubles, making her the highest ranked Austrian female tennis player of all time. She retired from tennis at the 2005 Australian Open, moving straight into presenting and commentating for Eurosport at Roland Garros that same year. Barbara is probably most well known for ...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 154
Just a few weeks ago, Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky was playing the final match of his career at the Australian Open. After nearly 20 years on the tour, the 36-year-old announced his retirement in January, ready to spend more time with his wife and three children. Instead, and despite no military experience, Sergiy has enlisted in the Ukrainian military reserves to defend his country against its invasion by Russia. We caught up with Sergiy from his home city of Kyiv, to talk about hi...
Mar 01, 2022•34 min•Ep. 153
In today´s episode we speak to Piotr Sierzputowski, the former coach of top 5 WTA player Iga Swiatek. Piotr was Iga´s coach from age 15 to 20, guiding her from top junior to a career high of 4 in the WTA rankings. Iga became the first Polish player to win a Grand Slam title at the 2020 French Open, when she lifted the trophy at just 19-years-old. That same year Piotr was named the WTA Coach of the Year. They recently parted ways, and in his chat with Dan, Piotr reflects on their split, and 5 yea...
Feb 22, 2022•47 min•Ep. 152
Dan Smethurst is a British tennis coach and former player who most recently worked with top WTA player Johanna Konta. A talented youngster, Dan was world junior number 29 before playing on the ITF and ATP Challenger Tour, reaching a career high ranking of 234 in 2014. After quitting tennis he moved into coaching, working with Team Bath Tennis high performance players. Dan was Konta´s assistant coach and hitting partner for 2 years before her retirement in 2021, including her run to the French Op...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 151
It´s our 150th episode of Control the Controllables! And for a special episode, we have a special guest as we speak to former US number 1 and current Davis Cup Captain Mardy Fish. Mardy won 14 singles and doubles titles and reached number 7 in the world, before an anxiety disorder threatened his career. After suffering with anxiety and panic attacks, he was forced to withdraw from the 2012 US Open at the peak of his game, not returning to professional tennis until 2015. He recently told his stor...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 150
We won´t be forgetting the 2022 Australian Open for a while! It´s been one for the history books, with Rafael Nadal winning his 21st Grand Slam thanks to an epic five-set victory over Daniil Medvedev. Ash Barty became the first Australian to win in Melbourne in 44 years. And let´s not forget the all-Aussie mens doubles final, won by wildcards and this years crowd entertainers Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis! Brits Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewitt won their 9th consecutive Grand Slam wheelchair m...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 149
Stanford Evans Boster is a South African who has made USA his home, and American Tennis is lucky to have him. He is the current coach to Junior World Number 4, Victor Lilov who made the final of the Boys Singles at Junior Wimbledon 2021. Stanford is no stranger to working with World Class Juniors. He coached Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish in their formative Junior days and was working for the USTA at the time when Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Noah Rubin, Stefan Kozlov an...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 148
With the first Grand Slam of 2022 underway, we´ve brought our panel of former pros back together to preview the Australian Open. What a few weeks it’s been, tennis has been global news with the Novak Djokovic visa saga, and we are ready to start focusing on the tennis over the next 2 weeks in Melbourne. Listen to Dan discuss all the latest from Melbourne with our Aussie Open Preview panellists:- Former British player, coach and TV commentator Lucie Ahl Former Belgian number 1 and ATP top 25 play...
Jan 17, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 147
In today´s episode, Dan sits down with Vicki to chat through their favourite moments and key learnings from 2021 on Control the Controllables. Listen to some of the most inspirational stories from this years guests, and find out which have been the top 5 most listened to episodes of 2021. Can we take this opportunity to thank you for supporting Control the Controllables this year. We wish you a happy new year and a healthy and happy 2022! Mentioned in this episode: Train Smarter Anywhere: Streng...
Dec 29, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 146
In this week´s episode we get to know up-and-coming British player Sonay Kartal. Sonay, 20, has had an impressive 2021. After coming back from injury earlier in the year, she won the UK Pro League Masters event. She also won her first two ITF Pro Circuit titles, breaking into the top 900 for the first time. You may have seen Sonay recently in a clip that went viral on social media. The video is an epic point against US Open Champion Emma Raducanu in an orange ball match when they were both just ...
Dec 14, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 145
Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna has achieved so much in his playing career. A Grand Slam champion, he has also reached multiple Grand Slam finals, and reached number 3 in the world in doubles. On top of this, he is already looking ahead to help the next generation of Indian tennis players through the Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy in Bangalore. He balances this with his own coffee brand, Maverick & Farmer . Rohan is a delightful man, with messages that are important to be heard. He is a big...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 144
Keith Reynolds is a tennis coach who has experienced the sport at all levels. He is the co-owner and founder of The Watchorn Tennis Club in Derbyshire which has produced 29 National Champions. He´s also coached many top international and national players, including GB Davis Cup player Jamie Baker. A strong sportsman himself, Keith played tennis to international level as a junior and reached a career high ITF ranking of 491. He was also the +35 GB National Champion. Keith is well known for develo...
Nov 30, 2021•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 143
Francesca Jones is a British tennis player who is currently ranked 153 in the world. Originally from Bradford, the 21-year-old moved to Spain at age 10 to train at the Sanchez Casal Tennis Academy. She reached number 31 in the junior world rankings, before qualifying for her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January. Francesca was born with Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplasia (EED) syndrome, which is a rare genetic condition that has required her to have more than 10 surgeries. She is mis...
Nov 16, 2021•53 min•Ep. 142
Lucie Ahl is a former British number 1 and WTA 161 singles player. She competed numerous times at Grand Slams and has a 100% record at the Fed Cup representing Great Britain. Life after playing tennis professionally has taken Lucie into coaching, as a travelling coach with Laura Robson, Jodie Burrage and many more. She has had a successful coaching career working with top British juniors and senior players, both male and female. She´s also now a member of the LTA Coach Education Team, helping de...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 141
Rajeev Ram is a multiple Grand Slam Champion and the current World number 4 mens doubles player. The 37-year-old American has won the Australian Open mixed doubles twice with Barbora Krejčíková. He´s reached 3 Grand Slam mens doubles finals with GB´s Joe Salisbury, winning the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 US Open titles. Rajeev was a successful junior, and reached a career high of 56 in the world in singles in 2016, before deciding to focus on doubles. Rajeev has reached the final of 40 ATP dou...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 140
Jimmy Arias is a former world number 5. At the age of 15, he became the youngest person to achieve a world ranking, and went onto win 5 ATP singles titles and the 1981 French Open Mixed Doubles. During his career he has had wins over Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Jim Courier, Mats Wilander, Pat Cash and Goran Ivanisevic. Jimmy Arias´name is synonymous with the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, now known as the IMG Academy. He was one of the original students at the academy in 1978, an...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 139
Fernando Segal is a world-leading coach, tennis development expert and an influential figure in the tennis world. From Argentina, Fernando has more than 40 years experience in coaching. During that time he´s written 11 books, and directed development programs for National Tennis Federations in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, New Zealand, and others. From these, junior players have been developed who have won 16 Junior Grand Slams, Top 10 ATP / WTA and multiple Top 100 players including David Nalbandi...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 138
Ben Haran is one of the leading tennis coaches in Great Britain. He is the Head Coach at Reeds Tennis Academy in Surrey, where for the past 17 years he´s guided dozens of young players to national and international level. A former player himself, Ben left home at 10-year-old to join the Slater Squad, based at Reeds School. There, he grew up training with fellow Brits Tim Henman & Jamie Delgado. Ben has recently worked with James Ward & Dan Evans and was mentored by legendary Australian c...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 137
Matt Little is one of the world´s most renowned S&C Coaches. He´s worked with Andy Murray for the past 14 years, through the highs and lows of 3 Grand Slam titles, 2 Olympic gold medals, a Davis Cup win and career-threatening injuries. Matt was by Murray´s side through two hip surgeries, his gruelling recovery and inspiring return to tennis. He´s just released a new book, The Way of the Tortoise: Why You Have to Take the Slow Lane to Get Ahead. In today´s episode, Matt chats to CTC Host Dan ...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 136
Ryan Jones is a British Coach who has been working on the ATP/ITF tour for the past 10 years. Ryan has taken Borna Coric and Kyle Edmund into the ATP top 100 and is well on the way to the same result with young British hope Jack Draper. You may have seen Jack take the first set off World Number one Novak Djokovic in his Wimbledon debut this summer. Ryan comes from a strong tennis pedigree, as the son of Alan Jones. Alan famously coached Jo Durie to the top 5 in the world back in the 1980´s. All ...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 135
Up until the 2021 US Open, Alastair Filmer was known as one of Great Britain´s leading performance coaches. He´s now more commonly referred to as Emma Raducanu´s former coach. The 18-year-old has been in the spotlight since she stormed to the women´s title as a qualifier earlier this month. Alistair coached Emma between the ages of 11 - 14, guiding her to her first ITF title at 13, and 3rd place at the U14 Orange Bowl. He was Head of Performance at Bromley Tennis Centre for 7 years, before movin...
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 134
In this bonus episode, we speak to Alexa Guarachi who is currently World Number 12 in Womens´doubles. Alexa has just reached the Semi-Final of the Women´s Doubles at the US Open with partner Desirae Krawczyk. The pair previously reached the final at Roland Garros in 2020. The daughter of an American mother and a Chilean Father, the 30-year-old has represented Chile since 2015. She has 5 WTA and 20 ITF Doubles titles to her name and is currently coached by GB´s Craig Veal. Listen to Alexa speak t...
Sep 20, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 133
It´s not been a bad few weeks for GB´s Joe Salisbury. In fact, it´s not been a bad year! The 29-year-old completed a US Open double at the weekend, winning the Men´s Doubles with partner Rajeev Ram on Friday, followed by the Mixed Doubles title with Desirae Krawczyk the next day. Joe has now reached 5 Grand Slam doubles finals in 2021, winning 3 of them. He´s now world number 4 and a 4-time Grand Slam Champion. In this episode, Joe talks to CTC Host Dan Kiernan about his amazing fortnight at Flu...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 132
Facundo Lugones has been Cameron Norrie´s coach since 2017. The pair played together on the Mens Tennis Team at Texas Christian University for 12 months, before Facu became a Graduate Coach for the team. The 28-year-old Argentinian has guided Norrie to 3 ATP Challenger Tour titles, and 2 ATP Tour Doubles Titles. In June, Norrie reached the final at Queens, before winning his first ATP title in July in Los Cabos, breaking into the top 30 for the first time. In this episode, CTC Host Dan Kiernan c...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 131
