LTA Episodes

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. S...

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, h...

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 Austr...

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...

Tennis fans will know Lewis Burton as a former British tennis player who reached the final of the Wimbledon boys doubles in 2010. Non-tennis fans will know Lewis as the boyfriend of TV presenter Caroline Flack when she tragically died in February 2020 at the age of 40. In this episode of Control the Controllables, Lewis looks back on his tennis career which saw him reach a high of 218 in doubles and 626 in singles. He won 26 ITF pro circuit doubles titles and qualified for the Wimbledon...

In 2016, British tennis player Marcus Willis rose to fame with one of the most memorable runs to the 2nd round of Wimbledon in the tournament´s history. In just a few weeks the 25-year-old went from giving up tennis and coaching part-time to ´chancing his arm´ at Wimbledon Pre Qualifying. He was the last man to get into the event at a ranking of 772 ATP. 7 matches later he had won through pre-qualifying, qualifying and his first round Main Draw before finding himself up against Roger Feder...

Louis Cayer has coached multiple Top 100 singles players, but has made his global name through coaching multiple Grand Slam Doubles Champions and World Number 1’s including changing the landscape of British Doubles over the last 15 years. His knowledge truly is second to none, make sure you have a note pad ready for this one. Enjoy 😊 To celebrate the release of the Control the Controllables Podcast this week, we are giving you the chance to win a SotoTennis Academy Online Course of your choic...

Mark Petchey is a former top 100 ATP player, former British Number 1. He went on the be the Head of Men’s Tennis at the LTA before coaching Andy Murray as he transitioned from 350 to top 50 ATP. His last 15 years have been spent mainly on our screens as a SKY, BBC, Amazon Prime Commentator and pundit with a small stint coaching Maria Sakarri. His daughters both have US College scholarships, so he truly has seen tennis from all sides. A great listen

Oli Golding is a US Open Junior Singles Champion. He was a childhood star on the stage, including the West End and he now works at Santander Bank. We discuss the challenges of the journey, and his reflections on why he didn’t succeed to the dizzy heights that all had planned for him in the tennis world, but was it all a waste of time? Fanatic honest reflections that will resonate with many.

Young British player Jodie Burrage is already 250 WTA. She has been through 3 major surgeries, but has developed a maturity and resilience from this that puts her in a great place. She discusses how that mindset changed and how her love for the sport developed in a humble yet insightful way. Enjoy

Steve and Matt are the Directors of Active Away. Both had strong tennis coaching careers at clubs, with the LTA and made the decision to set up their own Business running Tennis Holidays. Business as slow, so they decided to apply to the BBC show, Dragons Den. See what happens and much more during the podcast. A great story

Nick Weal has spent the last 35 years as a Grand Slam Player, Grand Slam Coach and GB Davis Cup Coach and is now in charge of the LTA Coach Education. He shares his experiences, his vision, his opinions and more in an educational and entertaining podcast.

James Auckland is a former British Number 1 Doubles Player with a highest ATP Ranking of 57. We discuss his journey and how the key failures led to the passion and fire to drive and ‘prove people wrong’. This led him to playing doubles with his good friend Andy Murray and a win over the great Rafael Nadal. He now spends his days increasing participation in the sport and throwing that same passion at the grass roots level. As per mentioned in this Episode, here’s the LINK to have a preview and si...

Iain Bates has gone from promising junior to University lecturer to Team GB Manager in the Olympics and is now LTA Head of Women’s Tennis. A great journey and by his own admission he is a ‘thinker’ and gives us his thoughts on many topics within tennis. A great listen. As per mentioned in this Episode, here’s the LINK to have a preview and sign up option to STA’s Online Courses ➡️ https://sototennis-academy.teachable.com/courses

Simon Jones worked for the LTA in many different capacities for 31 years before turning his hand to other sports over the last couple of years. We explore the similarities and differences between sports and his opinions from the inside looking in to British Tennis and from the outside looking in. A honest, healthy discussion which we hope will provoke thought for you all. Enjoy 😊

What a story! Leon went from decent junior player to coaching one of the best juniors in the world, Sir Andy Murray. He was catapulted to GB Davis Cup Captain over 10 years ago where he´s guided the team to glory on the court as the 2015 Davis Cup Winners, but also to a collective culture that brings positivity, team spirit and much more. Leon is the LTA Head of Men’s Tennis and he doesn’t hold back his insights in the podcast. See him as you haven’t seen him before. A wonderful listen. Tw...

Heather Watson has been one of Great Britain’s most successful female tennis players of the last 30 years. She won the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title in 2016, has won 4 WTA titles and has a career high of 38 in the world. Heather moved from her home island of Guernsey aged 11 to go to Florida and we learn all about that journey of dedicating her life to tennis and whether she has been ‘successful’ in her career. Heather gives fascinating insight and shares her story so well. Enjoy

Martin Lee is one of a very select few British Male Players to reach the ‘Holy Grail’ of Top 100 ATP. Was it an easy journey there? Find out more....

James Trotman was a top 10 player in Europe from an early age, before winning multiple Junior Grand Slams. He was then struck down with a career ending illness. Not a one to dwell, he put his passion into his coaching and has become one of the UK’s finest. Working with many top 100 ATP players and representing both Tennis Australia and the LTA for the last 20 years where he currently oversees the players on the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme. A great story..

Dan Evans talks to Control the Controllables about his incredible journey which has taken him inside the top 100 ATP on 3 occasions. The British number 1 discusses how he overcame injuries and a drug ban, and what has made him continue to what is now a career high of 26 ATP. A must listen for anyone with an interest in the real journey of a professional tennis player. Connect Follow Dan on Instagram: @danevo.official Follow Control the Controllables on Instagram: @ctc.podcast Visit C...

‘Barkers’ as Ian is known in the tennis world talks us through how he got into tennis, to the amazing journey of taking Pat Cash from aged 11 to Wimbledon Champion. Ian discusses his time in the UK in depth, as he created a winning culture through his job at the LTA national centre at Bisham Abbey.

Paul Jubb was dealt an extremely difficult start to life, as he lost both parents at an early age. This wasn’t going to stop him achieve what he wants in a sport that he loves. In 2019, Paul won the division 1 NCAA Tennis Championship and played Wimbledon for the first time. He has recently signed with Andy Murray’s Sports agency and his journey on the pro tour is beginning. A must listen!

Calvin Betton has been a tennis coach for 20 years working at all levels. He has developed a passion for purposeful practice and skill acquisition and we attack both subjects with live examples from his career.

Emily Webley-Smith has been competing on the ITF/WTA tour for the past 18 years. She has reached a career high of 240 in singles and 113 in doubles. Emily has overcome 7 major injuries during her career, but she continues to make big improvements through passion, desire and hard work. The tennis journey is not an easy one, but if you have the love of the sport, it overcomes all. We get into all of this with Emily in this episode. Enjoy! Connect Follow Emily on Twitter: @ews24 Follow ...