Former Players Episodes

Roger Federer will play the final match of his incredible career today at the Laver Cup in London. The 20 time Grand Slam Champion and former World number 1 will team up with his greatest rival Rafael Nadal in the doubles, as Europe take on the rest of the word at the 02 arena. To mark his final farewell to tennis, we´ve brought together these brilliant guests to share their tributes and stories and let us know what Roger is really like behind the scenes... 🎾 Former Belgian Pro Player Xavier Mal...

Ken Skupski is one of GB´s most successful doubles players. After a career spanning 3 decades, he recently retired from pro tennis playing his last match in the Mens Doubles at Wimbledon. In today´s episode, Ken talks through his career in numbers and in words. From his success in Juniors, to his US College days at Louisiana State University, through to his 18 years on the pro tour, he shares his honest learnings, his memories and the challenges of the past 20+ years including:- GB´s Davis Cup ...

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...

Ross Hutchins is a former top 30 doubles player and the Chief Player Officer at the ATP. He comes from a strong British tennis stock, as the son of Paul Hutchins, former GB Davis Cup captain and British tennis great. Ross won 5 ATP doubles titles during his pro career, reaching 13 ATP Tour doubles finals, and representing Great Britain several times in the Davis Cup. He was ranked 28 in the world in doubles in 2012 when he made the shock announcement that he´d been diagnosed with Hodgkins lympho...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

We´ve had to wait two years, but we´re now just a few days away from watching the green grass of Wimbledon on our screens! To celebrate the return of SW19, we´ve brought together a group of 10 former and current British Tennis players to talk about the highs and lows of being a British tennis player during the grass court season! And what a line-up it is... Kyle Edmund Harriet Dart Katie O´Brien Lucie Ahl Chris Wilkinson Danny Sapsford Claire Taylor Lee Childs Luke Milligan Julie Salmon All 10 p...

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...

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 Men´s Do...

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...

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 Federer on ...

We review the Australian Open 2021 with our amazing panellists Anne Keothavong, Naomi Broady, Xavier Malisse and Mark Hilton. A fun, insightful show 😊

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

Welcome to our first episode of 2021! Justin Gimelstob is a polarising figure in the world of tennis. His career has included winning Grand Slams, coaching John Isner into the Worlds Top 10m, commentating, Media Companies, and a member of the ATP Council in between. In 2019 his world turned upside down, as his marriage broke down, his father died and he pleaded no contest to an assault charge which led to him losing it all. He is ready to tell his story.... Rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podc...

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.

Xavier Malisse is a former top 20 ATP player who made the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2002. He had wins over Roger Federer,Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in his career. Xavier discusses his journey into tennis, his regrets, his honest reflections on whether his talent level was lived up too. Great stories and insights from a brilliant tennis player and an even better person. Enjoy 😊

A former World Number 6 in singles and 9 in doubles. A quite incredible record which includes wins over Bjorn Borg and Roger Federer with so many in between. He discusses it all. The Olympic highs and lows and we get to see into a mind of a champion as a player and now as a coach to Frances Tiafoe. An amazing listen