Coaches Episodes

In today´s episode we speak to ATP Coach and former pro player Neville Godwin. Neville reached a career high of 90 in the world in singles and 57 in doubles during his career, and won the US Open Boys Doubles as a junior in 1993. After retiring he became a coach, helping fellow South African Kevin Anderson to a world top 10 ranking and the US Open final in 2017. Neville won ATP Coach of the Year that same year. After he split with Anderson, he worked with Hyeon Chung who became the first South K...

We first spoke to Cameron Norrie on the Control the Controllables podcast back in August 2020. He was at the US Open and sat at 76 in the ATP rankings. Since then, Cameron has won 4 ATP titles including the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and broke into the top 10 in the world in April. Today he joins us with his coach Facu Lugones to catch up on Cameron´s amazing run of form since he was last on the show, and what he´s done differently to be able to move up the rankings. Read full shownotes here ....

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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 Nalband...

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 coach Bob...

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 Kier...

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 ...

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...

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...

If you watched any of the 2021 Australian Open in January, you wouldn´t have missed Craig Tiley. The Director of the Aussie Open was on our screens throughout the tournament as he dealt with tennis players and officials in hotel quarantine for 14 days, and a local lockdown in Melbourne. In this episode, Craig talks to CTC Host Dan Kiernan about the difficulties of running a Grand Slam during the pandemic, and shares all the latest of what the 2022 Australian Open will look like. Craig also looks...

If you were a tennis fan in the 80´s and 90´s, you wouldn´t have missed the Jensen Brothers! The original American doubles brothers, Luke & Murphy Jensen were known for their high energy on court, chest bumping and high fives, as well as their long hair and bandanas. Nicknamed the Rock n Roll tennis brothers, they won the mens doubles title at Roland Garros in 1993. Product endorsements poured in and the pair went onto appear on the cover of Rolling Stone and People magazines, increasing global ...

Alex Ward is a British tennis coach and former player. He reached a career high ATP ranking of 242, winning 14 Futures titles. Alex was part of the 2010 GB Davis Cup squad and played Wimbledon in 2016 & 2017. He came through Qualifying in 2017, losing to fellow Brit Kyle Edmund in the first round. He retired from professional tennis in 2018, moving into coaching, and has most recently been working with Heather Watson. In this episode you´ll hear Alex talk to Dan about:- [06:46] His move to a Spa...

Paul Annacone is one of the world´s leading coaches. He´s worked with some of the greats including Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Tim Henman. Annacone guided Sampras to nine of his 14 Grand Slam Titles, leading to Sports Illustrated calling him “the court whisperer”. He helped GB´s Tim Henman rise from number 41 in the world to a career high of 4. He also led Roger Federer back to World number 1 and his 7th Wimbledon title in 2012. In between this, Annacone was also Managing Director of the UST...

In this episode, we´re talking all things data with ATP/WTA tennis analyst Mike James. Mike is a former UK tennis coach who moved into the world of tennis data analysis in 2014. Since then he´s worked with many top players and coaches like Stan Wawrinka and Misha Kecmanovic and is now the data analyst for the 2020 French Open Champion Iga Swiatek. He has also set up his own company, Sport Analytics . Mike tells us how he fits into a pro players team, and what information they will ask him for. H...

In this week´s episode we speak to GB´s Jonny O´Mara and his coach Toby Smith. Jonny O´Mara is a doubles specialist from Scotland who has reached a career high ATP doubles ranking of 44. He´s been working with fellow Scot Toby Smith for more than two years. Toby is the former Head Coach of Tennis Scotland, as well as working with many top British Players to the highest level of the Junior Game. He is also the big brother of GB Davis Cup Captain, Leon Smith. They have a wonderful player/coach rel...

If you´re a fan of McEnroe, Borg, Sampras, Agassi or Courier, this is a must-listen episode! Tom Gullikson reached as high as 34 in the world in singles and 4 in doubles. He is a 2-time Grand Slam finalist, winning the Mixed Doubles at the US Open in 1983. Also known as Gully, Tom was the US Davis Cup Captain between 1994 and 1999, leading the US team of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang to victory in 1995. As Team USA's coach, Tom also helped Agassi win a gold medal at t...