Day 6 Wimbledon Recap w/ Danny Sapsford Talking About Playing Pete Sampras at SW19!

Episode 293: Day 6 Wimbledon Recap w/ Danny Sapsford Talking About Playing Pete Sampras at SW19!

 

DISCLAIMER: Please note we use a transcription service, so there may be some errors in the following transcript for the episode. If you can, refer to the audio for the exact quotations.

 

Dan Kiernan (00:00)

Hello and welcome to day six of Wimbledon Live Control the Controllables brought to you by Novellus and here I am still at SW19 with a bit of a clicking noise in the background over at the indoor tennis center and as ever another exciting day, middle Saturday, middle Saturday at Wimbledon. Another glorious day, a little bit of cloud cover earlier in the day but we've had another stunning day and…

 

lots more brilliant tennis brought our way. Just before we get fully going make sure you know in the chat if you have any questions at all you know send your questions in we've received lots over the week of a Dear Dan but you also get the opportunity to do this through this Danny 9 10 please nine minutes and we'll have you. No guest  has got it right yet I need to work on my communication

 

but we will see you later. And that's a little advert. Danny Sapsford will be with us at 9.10. I don't know what they do. said, I'm going to publish the PDF that all of these guests get. Very, very clearly says 9.10 and the WhatsApp message. But anyway, tennis players, bloody tennis players. Be our segment. We will have the major moments of the day brought to you by SotoTennis Academy. We will have the TennisAthlete player of the day and then our Wimbledon storie had these amazing guests that have got all of these special experiences that they've had at Wimbledon over the years.

 

 And today's is somebody who had this incredible run back in 1999. I'm really pleased to kind of bring it alive back in the day. You know, someone who's even older than me, Danny Sapsford, someone who I absolutely looked up to, brilliant tennis player, came through pre-qualifying, qualifying, made it all the way to the third round…

 

where he played Pete Sampras on court number one. Didn't get, he sent a court match against Pete Sampras, but court number one lost them three tight sets. And I'm excited to hear all about that because I do believe that was his last ever match he played. He then went on to work for the LTA as a coach straight after that. So that's going to be fun. And then the day's been fun. There still is matches going on around the grounds. Well, I say on the major courts, we've Tiafoe and Bublik that are still going head to head right now in an extremely tight match.

 

 I know it was close at the end of that set. It's now 12-11 to Bublik in the tie break in the third set tie break. And we have two sets to one Bublik over Tiafoe. He's just won the set 13-11, the tie break. Dimitrov two sets to one up on Berrettini, but down a break in the fourth. Dimitrov break points back. So we'll keep our eyes on those. But it's been, I guess, a day of upsets on the women's side.

 

Know, Igor Swiatek, last year's finalist, sorry, winner, last year's winner, went out 7-6-6-2 to Alexandra Eala. We've heard lots about her over the last few years. Then, just, Iga’s not quite getting it going right now. You know, something doesn't quite seem right there. The furthest that Eala has gone, we've heard big things about a big hitter of the tennis pool.

 

She said, don't know how to describe it, I've never been to the second week of a Grand Slam and it's amazing for me. Iga is a phenomenal player and a really nice person, so I'm grateful to be able to share, center court with her. I do remember, I think it was Iga, she'd been in Miami last year when we kind of saw Eala making her kind of grand entrance onto the WTA Tour. You know, some player. We then had Anisimova who was last year's finalist, lost to Madison Keys.

 

Um, Keys, yeah, is, putting together, putting together some results again, and this is more of a just has fallen off really hasn't had the same 20, 26 as she had last year. And then I think a big one that certainly surprised a lot of people's we ourselves at the podcast, think myself and Freddie Nielsen picked her for the title, Rybakina. And she only put 42 % of her serves in play today. Um, six double faults.

 

lost at least in Mertens. If you haven't an off day, you don't want to play Elise Mertens. She makes a lot of tennis ball. She's a tough competitor and yeah, I don't know. Something's not right there as well. I always think we're for back in a, it's a happiness off the court that seems to link same with a lot of players, but we're back and I obviously has had a fantastic last 12 months, but when things aren't going right off the court, it feels like it falls apart a little bit. 

 

And I've kind of sensed that around the last few weeks that something's not quite right in team Rybakina. Maybe it's just a blip, but yeah, the women's draw has been blown open really. And then we have the six, only the sixth player since the start of the nineties, the British player that's made the second round of, second week of singles at Wimbledon.

 

And I'll ask Danny if he knows them all, but Jeremy Bates made, think it was 92 and 94. Then we've had obviously Andy Murray, we've had Tim Henman, we've had Greg Rusedski, we've had Cam Norrie, nobody else. And then obviously back in the day, Roger Taylor, Mark Cox, Fred Perry. You know, I'm sure there's someone else I'm missing, but Arthur Fery becomes that sixth man in the last kind of 40 years.

 

40 plus years to make and what a match that was. my goodness. You know, two six seven five, two six seven six seven six, Zizou Bergs, four one double break down in set four, two sets to one down, four one double break, came back, won the set seven six, four one down in set five, not a double break but came back. Absolutely incredible.

 

One of my best friends in the world, Nathan Rooney, is his agent. We've just had some dinner with him and his lovely wife, Kath, and spoke to Arthur, and rightly so, they're all extremely happy. And he's just a great young man. He's been on the podcast before, and someone that you want to do well moves into the top 100 in the world, 300,000 pound richer.

 

and then gets a chance to play, I tell you what, Berrettini or Dimitrov in the fourth round on Monday. And we could have a British male in the quarterfinals. Let's see how that develops. And then on the double side, of matches on the double side today, very close matches, and I need to give a shout out to Jean- Julien Rojer. I played Jules

 

Me and Johnny Marre played Julian Roger and Raven Claussen in Uzbekistan back in 2003. And that wasn't long before I retired after that. It's a long time ago, like 23 years, maybe it's 2004. He's a little bit younger than me, only like 12 months. Really good friend of mine. Someone who inspires me massively. He hasn't been playing the last few weeks. He's playing with a young kid, Theo Winegar.

 

And who you know, they've kind of put in a proper shift been out to China. They've played a lot of challenger events They've got the ranking into Kenyan as alternates that a great win in the first round over Venus and Bhambri and then today they beat they beat Nice and Roger Vasselin and seven six on the third and over three hours and Getting a bit of a special moment afterwards with with Jules in the in the gym that just finished at the same time as Gaby Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani who I'm coaching.

 

And they had a great win today as well. And just to spend that little bit of time was brilliant. Granollers, Zeballos, the French Open champions, the US Open champions of last year went out to another, Sander Gille, great guy in Sem Verbeek and took them out. So we've got a couple of upsides there that have happened on the men's side. On the women's side, a little bit more normal service seems to be resumed with a lot of the top seeds.

 

I think everybody was looking forward to seeing Serena and Venus. That didn't happen today. Serena's had to pull out with a knee injury. They tried to give the tournament, tried to give her enough time to be ready, but she wasn't ready in time to play today. So the lucky losers came in to play that instead. So yeah, another brilliant day. And then obviously tomorrow we have day seven, which is traditionally used to be middle Sunday…

 

where the grounds were kind of empty and it was kind of nice. It was kind of quite a special time to be at Wimbledon, but we're living in 2026 and ticket sales and all of those things that I guess make the world go around means that we've got tennis tomorrow and lots of brilliant matches to look forward to. We will in the next minute or so, if he's read the PDF, have Danny Sapsford coming on to talk about his Wimbledon…

 

time and it's quite apt actually that Danny I'm sure you'll have something to say about Arthur and what he has experienced you know as a British player going far in this event you know just kind of what it what it takes out of you as well you know the media kind of scrimmage that comes comes around you so it is 9 10 and Danny's not jumped on yet he came on at 9 or 1 but he he should be here any any second and as I say that he has appeared…

 

Just like that. I'm just saying Danny, that's day six. Day six and not one guest has got it right yet. So maybe I need to work on my PDF.

 

Danny Sapsford (10:06)

I'm used to going in waiting rooms and getting into I pressed join and I came straight in, sorry. So keen to join you, Dan.

 

Dan Kiernan (10:12)

This is live, this is live show Danny, know, we're straight to the heart of it. So thank you so much for coming on, a big welcome to Control the Controllables. How are you doing anyway? How's things?

 

Danny Sapsford (10:25)

No good. No, very really good actually. Yeah, no, it's been a busy, busy year for me. but overwhelming at times, but I think I'm on top of it now. So yeah, I'm just enjoying Wimbledon for a couple of weeks, which is nice.

 

Dan Kiernan (10:39)

and bringing you on on a day 27 years on from your miraculous effort to then see a young Brit off a ferry have a middle Saturday win five sets, seven six in the fifth set, takes him into the top 100 in the world. We've just been talking about the six man in the last 40, 45 years to make it to the second week of Wimbledon.

 

How's he feeling tonight?

 

Danny Sapsford (11:11)

Yeah. Well, by the looks of things, I think he's gonna be a bit tired. playing four and a half hours in this heat, th third match in five days. It's pretty draining, but but no, he's gonna be feeling pretty happy, I think. and it's funny you mention that because i i the you talked about the first, I think, what British wildcard to make the fourth round as well. I bumped into Andrew Foster today, who was the last guy

 

Dan Kiernan (11:33)

Yep.

 

Danny Sapsford (11:34)

to do it in nineteen ninety three. And I ha I've seen him probably once in the last thirty years and I had a great fifteen minutes with him and it's…

 

he was a great friend of mine, a good he was my doubles partner, so it was lovely to catch up and we were talking as Arthur Fery was was kind of equaling his record, which was brilliant.

 

Dan Kiernan (11:50)

So did he make fourth round or third round?

 

Danny Sapsford (11:52)

He made fourth round. He was the last guy in nineteen ninety three. Andrew Foster, he lost to Sampras. Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (11:57)

Wow. So this is,

 

I've been given false information. We've been talking about it up in the players restaurant and someone said there's only been five, Arthur was the fifth. And we went through it. was that what Jeremy's made fourth round.

 

Danny Sapsford (12:09)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (12:10)

Sure. In lights have just gone out where I am in 92 and 94, I believe.

 

Danny Sapsford (12:15)

Right.

 

Dan Kiernan (12:16)

Then obviously Greg, Tim, Andy, Cam Norrie.

 

Danny Sapsford (12:20)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (12:20)

But we've missed Andrew Foster. Wow. Wow. Okay.

 

Danny Sapsford (12:22)

Yeah, Fozzy. Fozzy was the last guy in nineteen ninety-three. I remember…

 

it clearly, yeah. Yeah, he lost to Sampras in in a tight match. I don't know how much time we got, but funny story, I was I was riding in a boat and we were just about to get fined for going through a lock in the wrong direction, and the lockkeeper was just about to find me as he was reading a paper with a big picture of Andrew Foster on it, and I persuaded the guy that he was my doubles partner and he let us off the fine. So so he saved…

 

Dan Kiernan (12:48)

You

 

Danny Sapsford (12:49)

me a a a boating fine that year.

 

Dan Kiernan (12:52)

power of networking. And

 

Danny Sapsford (12:53)

Exactly, exactly.

 

Dan Kiernan (12:54)

I know someone else who lost to Pete Sampras in a big match at Wimbledon as well, Danny in, you know, 1999. I remember it well. You know, I would have been 19 years old. And I think it was, we were talking about this the other day. was, all, when a British player played, when Tim played, everyone stopped. When Wilkes went on his runs, everyone seemed to stop. then, and then I was, I was actually, I think I was in Edinburgh watching you. know why I was in a pub in Edinburgh at age 19? I don't know. That probably didn't end well. that

 

Danny Sapsford (13:28)

At two o'clock in the afternoon as well.

 

Dan Kiernan (13:31)

Didn't end well. But your run was just completely incredible and you're going to take me through it. If I remember correctly, came through pre-Qualities,

 

Danny Sapsford (13:40)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (13:41)

into Qualities.

 

Danny Sapsford (13:42)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (13:43)

Third round, Julian Alonso first round. mean, these sound like nice grass-court players to play. Julian…

 

Danny Sapsford (13:48)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (13:48)

Alonso and Galo Blanco sound like nice names on a grass-court.

 

Danny Sapsford (13:51)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (13:53)

However, to then play Pete Sampras, which was then your last ever match, was my memory, because you went and worked with the LTA with the boys after that.

 

Danny Sapsford (13:58)

It was, it was, yeah. Exactly.

 

Yeah. No, it was, it was a long story because I my ranking was dropping. I was getting older, obviously. By the time Wimbledon came around, I was 30. So I knew it was going to be my last year on tour. I wanted a playthrough tour Wimbledon. But I was speaking with the LTA about getting a role, a job, within the Federation, working with kind of up and coming juniors. and Jeremy Bates was head of men's tennis at that time.

 

And he offered me the role, it was all confirmed, and I was to start on the middle Saturday of Wimbledon, when the junior event started. And this  was all confirmed back in February. and I thought to myself, yeah, I'll just just have a little run at Wimbledon and and have a few days off before I start my new job. but unbeknownst to me, like you said, I went through pre qualifying, qualifying, I beat Petr Korda in qualifying that year as well, who'd won the Australian Open the year before.

 

Dan Kiernan (14:53)

wow.

 

Danny Sapsford (14:53)

so that was quite a good win. He had I think he had nine months off through like a Nandrolone doping thing. so he lost his ranking a little bit back in Qualies, but I managed to beat him. beat Michael Joyce last round of Qualies eight six in the fifth, which was a good win. and like you say, a good draw. The first round especially was a good draw. I remember I remember walking to the court and Julian Alonso turned to me and said, I've got my flight booked at six o'clock tonight.

 

Dan Kiernan (15:20)

Did he? geez.

 

Danny Sapsford (15:20)

And I didn't I didn't know whether he was playing mind games with me because the Spaniards the Spaniards quite often turned up just to like take the prize money and go home. So I didn't know whether he was just trying to get inside my head or he genuinely had his flight booked. but luckily I got through that one. Galo Blanco was tough. He was a Spaniard, but he was…

 

Dan Kiernan (15:37)

is a serious player.

 

Danny Sapsford (15:39)

he played all right. Yeah, no, like like l back in the day when the grass was a little bit softer and a little bit more unpredictable, the Spaniards struggled on the grass. Nowadays it's a lot harder and firmer and they can they can play pretty comfortably on it. But back then it definitely favoured the Brits. But he was a decent player. So that was quite a good win for me, that one. and the one thing

 

Dan Kiernan (15:59)

What was?

 

Danny Sapsford (15:59)

I remember about that run as well is I won I think I won eight matches that year at Wimbledon, which was more than Sampras, who actually won the tournament. So that's my claim to fame, I think.

 

Dan Kiernan (16:09)

And how much money did you make back then? 99, third round.

 

Danny Sapsford (16:12)

That's good question. I think I made third round, twenty six grand, which in today's money is probably about twenty eight and a half. So not much. But we  didn't use to play for the money, Dan, you know that. We used to play for the pride. Exactly.

 

Dan Kiernan (16:25)

Exactly. And for the stories, was there any part of you that thought, hmm, ranking points, I think you were 595 going into Wimbledon, I believe, so I guess that would have pumped you up a fair bit. Did your mind at any point go, maybe it's not the time? No, right, okay. 

 

Danny Sapsford (16:46)

No, definitely not. No, I think back then like I say, I was thirty years old and back then that was old. Like No, I know.

 

Dan Kiernan (16:51)

Because when you say that Danny, I'm like 30, it's like getting started now.

 

Danny Sapsford (16:54)

I know. Like, but back then people were retiring like mid twenties, late twenties, and thirty was genuinely old. I think  nowadays with with the kind of improved medical teams and nutrition and hydration and and all the prehab and the rehab and everyone's kind of career is a bit more kind of prolonged now.

 

Dan Kiernan (17:16)

Yeah.

 

Danny Sapsford (17:16)

but back then thirty was pretty old. I had no doubts I needed to stop. My body was broken and I was kind of getting a bit fed up with all the travelling. I was looking forward to a career change into coaching. So no, it was definitely the right time for me.

 

Dan Kiernan (17:30)

And Pistol Pete Sampras, you know,

 

Danny Sapsford (17:33)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (17:33)

I think a lot of the youngsters, obviously they'll know Federer, they'll know Djokovic for being kind of the kings of Wimbledon. But, you know, certainly back in our day, he was the man, right? Sampras was—

 

Danny Sapsford (17:45)

Exactly.

 

Dan Kiernan (17:46)

—the man to talk us through that experience.

 

Danny Sapsford (17:49)

No, it was good. The one thing I do remember, I remember I'd been traveling by myself for a couple of years leading up to that. I didn't really have many traveling companions and I wasn't the kind of most outgoing person. So I didn't really warm up for many matches because I was a little bit shy to ask people for hits. So for two years I used to play without warming up.

 

And that was the one match where I thought, my goodness, shall I go to Aorangi and just hit a few balls before I step on court? And I was genuinely like double guessing myself and decided to stick with what I knew best and didn't warm up. And I remember all the British press were were kind of ringing in to me saying, Well, when when are you coming to Aorangi to warm up? And I was saying, Well, I'm not warming up. And they were all like flabbergasted, like, why aren't you warming up, you know? so that I remember that very, very clearly. and—

 

Dan Kiernan (18:38)

Brilliant.

 

Danny Sapsford (18:39)

I remember the first point.

 

when he served and I I just felt like my split step was out of time. Like I was  landing to push off and the ball was hitting the back stop netting. And I was thinking there's something wrong here. This guy's serving bigger than I've experienced before and I need to sort this timing out very quickly. but no he was good. I remember he served very well. didn't have a break point the whole match. I think I had I think I had fifteen thirty at five four in the third.

 

But didn't convert or thirty all, something like that. But that was as close as I got and yeah, he was very much in kind of autopilot, one break each set. thanks very much, job done, and moved on.

 

Dan Kiernan (19:21)

If only you'd warmed up Danny, you know?

 

Danny Sapsford (19:23)

Exactly, yeah, exactly. I might have started better, exactly, but but no, i yeah, yeah, it's  all good fun, isn't it?

 

Dan Kiernan (19:30)

I always used to say, I remember we used to the conversation, who would you most like or dislike to play? Like what would your worst nightmare? And I remember saying like my nightmare would be playing like a game or courier or someone like that on the, you know, don't know, he was a bit after your time, but courier on a clay court was

 

Danny Sapsford (19:47)

Yeah, yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (19:47)

like, no, keep me away from him. And I always used to say, Sampras on a grass court, cause you can kind of get a bit of a kicking, but respectfully.

 

Danny Sapsford (19:58)

Yeah, n well that's the thing. Like I'd always say that. Sampras was the sort of guy, he didn't have the ground strokes of of like Andre Agassi, didn't have the tenacity of like a Michael Chang. So he literally would break you once and that was enough. So I lost six three,

 

Dan Kiernan (20:13)

Yeah.

 

Danny Sapsford (20:13)

six four, seven, five, one break in each set. he beat Agassi in the final, six three, six four, seven five, you know. So—

 

Dan Kiernan (20:19)

Yeah.

 

Danny Sapsford (20:20)

—i he's he beat my grandma, six three, six four, seven five, you know. But Agassi and Chang, they'd want to beat you one and one and they want to—

 

Dan Kiernan (20:22)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly.

 

Danny Sapsford (20:28)

—Like but he was never that type of player. So you always felt like you had a chance and you always felt like you could hold serve. and I guess the key was to just if I could get to a couple of tie breaks and where it's a bit more of a flip of a coin and hopefully luck goes your way, but I couldn't quite get there.

 

Dan Kiernan (20:44)

Danny, it's brilliant having you on. We've been bringing different people on each day. Now we do have a very quick fire, Wimbledon special, if you are up for it. Are you ready for it?

 

Danny Sapsford (20:57)

This trivia, is it?

 

Dan Kiernan (20:59)

No, no, this is actually, this is your opinions, your questions. You can't be wrong.

 

Danny Sapsford (21:03)

My opinions, okay. I'll do my best. Okay.

 

Dan Kiernan (21:08)

Your wife might tell you you're wrong, but you can't be wrong in this field.

 

Danny Sapsford (21:10)

I'll give it a go, yeah, I'll give it a go.

 

Dan Kiernan (21:12)

Your best Wimbledon memory as a fan?

 

Danny Sapsford (21:17)

I remember back in the day, I remember queuing up outside the gate. This must have been in the early eighties or in the late seventies. And back then you could run on to centre court and get standing room on centre court. I remember watching Borg. I think he was playing Vijay Amritraj, maybe. and I remember being on TV, like I was right behind the server and and yeah, and that was a nice memory. Like queuing up and being the first in the ground and legging it to the centre court, getting on their freestanding. Hmm.

 

Dan Kiernan (21:45)

That reminds me of the Ryder Cup. I went to the Ryder Cup in Italy and it was like that in Rome. think health and safety wouldn't be allowed now maybe.

 

Danny Sapsford (21:55)

Yeah, yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (21:56)

Finish this sentence. When I think of Wimbledon, I think of...

 

Danny Sapsford (22:02)

When I think of Wimbledon, I think of I gotta say strawberries and cream, I think. I go there every day. I go there every day and every day I have strawberries and cream and and every day with my guests I say, You can't come to Wimbledon without having strawberries and cream, you know. It it it's the quintessential English summer, Wimbledon and strawberries and cream. They go hand in hand.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:22)

So you're the second person to say that.

 

Danny Sapsford (22:25)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:25)

Now, I asked this follow-up question. What do you do with the cream at the bottom when you finish the strawberries?

 

Danny Sapsford (22:31)

What well, when you're in the players restaurant you can't tip it out and have it all over your chin and stuff. So no,

 

Dan Kiernan (22:34)

Hehehehehe

 

Danny Sapsford (22:38)

I'm I'm I it's the sort of thing where you leave it you leave it on the table but you secretly wanna just dip into it but you can't, you know.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:43)

Yeah. Who would you most like to play on Centre Court past or present?

 

Danny Sapsford (22:53)

What trying to win or just someone who I want to

 

Dan Kiernan (22:56)

Yeah, your interpretation.

 

Danny Sapsford (23:00)

I guess I think Federer, I'd like to play Federer. I think I'd get an absolute whooping, but I'd like to play him. I think he's the most iconic, recognizable player that's kind of taken to the court in the last X number of years. So yeah, I think I'd like to experience what that would be like, I think.

 

Dan Kiernan (23:19)

What song would you like to walk out onto if you were walking out on Centre Court?

 

Danny Sapsford (23:26)

That's a tough one. Walking out on centre court. Ooh, Crikey, that's a really tough one. don't I do like my music, but I'm a bit kind of old well, I say I'm old fashioned. the last concert I went to, I went to a take that concert, didn't I? Biffy Clyro, maybe Many of Horror or something, something like that. I don't know. Something get the crowd going.

 

Dan Kiernan (23:50)

If the whole calendar, and I'm gonna ask this about your era, not this era, if the whole calendar, ATP and WTA  calendar was played on grass courts, would the top five players in the world look different?

 

Danny Sapsford (24:07)

In my era.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:08)

Yes.

 

Danny Sapsford (24:10)

no, probably not. No, I think all the services were pretty quick back then. So you had a lot of serve and volleys. You had like Becker and Edberg and Sampras, Ivan

 

Dan Kiernan (24:18)

Yeah.

 

Danny Sapsford (24:19)

Izovich, Kraiche, all those guys were up there. So no, I think it would be pretty much the same, I think.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:23)

What about now?

 

Danny Sapsford (24:24)

Nowadays probably would be different, yeah. I think the style of play would be different as well, slightly, wouldn't it? I think everything's got a a little bit one dimensional now. It's a little bit frustrating going to Wimbledon and just seeing everyone serve and hit big forehands and no one really wants to come to the net and put some pressure on you. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And then looking at the court like it's too bumpy and stuff, yeah. But

 

Dan Kiernan (24:41)

I much prefer seeing us all shanking balls around a bit, you know what I mean? It's way too clean. It's way too clean nowadays, isn't it?

 

Danny Sapsford (24:51)

Exactly. Exactly.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:53)

What is your guilty pleasure?

 

Danny Sapsford (24:56)

My guilty pleasure. crikey, where do I start? The first thing that comes to mind is chocolate. My diet's terrible. I love chocolate. Get it in the fridge so it almost like cracks your teeth when you're biting it, you know? always have some chocolate after lunch.

 

Dan Kiernan (25:13)

And your favorite ever Wimbledon champion and why.

 

Danny Sapsford (25:17)

Favorite ever Wimbledon champion and why?

 

That's a tough one. It's funny, when I grew up I didn't really have I didn't really get excited when I was watching Wimbledon. particularly when I was playing, didn't really have any idols. I guess really growing up really young, I suppose Borg was probably my biggest idol, I suppose, because I started playing in the late seventies, early eighties. So so yeah, possibly Borg. I remember watching Becker or remember hearing Becker winning Wimbledon in eighty-five when I was at still at school, that was quite exciting 'cause he was the youngest guy. So so I guess

 

Dan Kiernan (25:55)

Yep.

 

Danny Sapsford (25:56)

it would be the Borg or Becker, I think.

 

Dan Kiernan (25:59)

And one thing that you'd change about Wimbledon.

 

Danny Sapsford (26:02)

One thing I would change about Wimbledon was

 

That's a really tough one. you know what? I think Wimbledon's pretty good. I'd keep it as it is. I don't I can't, I'm a very laid back guy. I'm very easy, but whenever I do talk to people about Wimbledon, I do say it's it's almost perfect. It's a lovely club, they've got everything right, their attention to detail is spot on. can't think of anything. Maybe better Wi Fi, maybe. Apart from that, it's all all good for me.

 

Dan Kiernan (26:38)

What's the best advice that you would give to a young tennis player about their journey ahead?

 

Danny Sapsford (26:43)

How old? Starting up or young pro?

 

Dan Kiernan (26:47)

A young player just when they're playing, when they're playing, junior, junior coming through.

 

Danny Sapsford (26:50)

Best advice, ha have fun, have fun. Like don't put too much pressure on yourself, particularly at a young age. Play lots of different sports, don't take it too seriously. I think I think nowadays I think quite a lot of parents, coaches just are a little bit too intense, too young. and you look at all the all the top players, all the players that have made it through, none of them specialise at 10, 11, 12 years old. They're all skiing or playing soccer or doing other sports and…

 

They only really take it seriously when they're about fourteen or fifteen. So certainly just have fun, enjoy yourselves and it's a game for life, so just enjoy it. Don't burn out too soon.

 

Dan Kiernan (27:32)

And last question, who's going to win the World Cup?

 

Danny Sapsford (27:35)

Who's gonna win the World Cup? Crikey. Well my heart, my heart obviously says England. I'd love England to win it, but I kinda don't think they will. I think the team that have been playing the best have been France so far, I'm afraid. They just seem to be able to score goals at will and they've got a fantastic attacking line up and yeah, I can't see anyone beating France, really.

 

Dan Kiernan (27:57)

Danny Sapsford, you've been a star. Thank you for coming on. It genuinely is lovely to, I'm not putting you as being too old, but it's been nice.

 

Danny Sapsford (28:07)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (28:08)

It's just been nice to roll back and to hear your stories from, know, that tennis did exist before the 2000s. You know, I think sometimes people forget—

 

Danny Sapsford (28:14)

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

 

Dan Kiernan (28:17)

—that and, you know, for me as well, it's so interesting hearing even how different. I think the 30 thing blew me away a bit, know, how was deemed old then and they're—

 

Danny Sapsford (28:27)

Hmm.

 

Dan Kiernan (28:30)

—not warming up for matches. I guess the sport's come a long way, but maybe we miss a little bit of that magic as well.

 

Danny Sapsford (28:37)

Hm. No, it's been fun for me as well. Thanks, Dan.

 

Dan Kiernan (28:40)

Thanks for coming on, Danny. Thank you.

 

Danny Sapsford (28:41)

Pleasure.

 

Dan Kiernan (28:43)

So there we have it, Danny Sapsford, a brilliant guest. A big, big, big, big thank you to Danny. We can put Danny off now if we can get him off. How do we get him off? Danny can, he's

 

Danny Sapsford (28:55)

I can leave.

 

Dan Kiernan (28:56)

leaving, he's out. And now the last thing, hey, my producer, Harry's gonna be happy. I've always kept it to 30 minutes. Dear Dan, questions?

 

We've got a couple. We've got one from Clara here. Who will be the next Grand Slam winner in women's and men's tennis that hasn't won a slam yet? Put me on the spot. Iva Jovic is where I'm going to go for that on the women's side. Lover. Think she's amazing. Got a head on her shoulders beyond her year's. It's the ball like an absolute dream. Very interesting match up, I guess tomorrow with Jess Pegula.

 

And maybe Jess as well. I love Jess and I'd love to see Jess Pagula win one. So I'd say maybe Jess Pegula or Iva Jovovich and maybe the winner of that has a chance to win this year's Wimbledon as well. How about that, Clara? On the men's side,

 

Joao Fonseca. I think the men's side's very interesting because I think at some point Alcaraz is gonna be back. And once Alcaraz is back, we have an issue because we've got two gatekeepers. know, whilst Alcaraz is out, there's only one gatekeeper, Jannik Sinner. And then if something happens to Jannik, then it opens up for others. Which...

 

is more doable, right? We saw that at Roland Garros. That's more likely that something happens to one of them. But I think if both of them are in the tournament, obviously the odds are much, much more against the players because it's for the two players, for something for them to lose or an injury or something to happen at that same time in that same event. But I just saw enough from Joao Fonseca at Roland Garros. He's pretty magic, you know, and I think,

 

He's got the X factor. He has, you know, I didn't see his match this week. I know he lost, but I'm not sure grass is quite, he's ready for that. But I think at clay court, maybe an Australian open after a great pre-season. I think he's a superstar. I think I set it on five live. You see five live at Roland Garros. And I think by the end of, did I say that by the end of 28, I think he will win. He will win a grand slam.

 

And that last question from Mark just coming in here, what has been my favorite part of 2026 Wimbledon week one? A bit of a cheesy answer, but it's God honest truth, having my family here. I think I said it a couple of nights ago to share this incredible experience and event and have my wife and kids here. That's been special from a personal standpoint.

 

In terms of from a tennis standpoint of what we've seen. Honestly, Julien Roger, Jean-Julian Rojer winning today was really special. think we've heard a lot about doubles and people trying to ultimately take the jobs away from them. There's a lot of propaganda out there right now. I'm fortunate enough to be...

 

at tennis tournaments 35 weeks a year. And I see it and I've also been very fortunate the last four or five years to pretty much be there towards the end of every tournament because of the players, the success that the players have had. And people just aren't given an accurate interpretation of what's happening in our sport. And it's this, I love the passion, I love.

 

I love the stories, the Danny Sapsford story, know, pre-Qualities to Qualies to third round to, playing against Pete Sampras and Julien Roger, Julien Roger at 45 years old. He's, he's, he's what he's gone through the last 12 or 18 months when his rankings fully dropped. He's a five time Grand Slam champion, you know, but he's gone through like having to go. He was in China 11 weeks last year away from his family to get his ranking high enough to maybe get into Australia and open. This is what the sport does. This is like, this is.

 

This is how dedicated these athletes are, whether they're playing singles or doubles. And to see him in the gym with tears rolling down his face and to have an opportunity to give him a big hug and to feel his passion and energy at 45 years old, all of those years after being on the tour, pretty special. We'll take some beating. Obviously we have more of that to come because this is the greatest sport in the world.

 

Let's keep supporting it. Let's get as many, many tennis players as we can have and the opportunities to have these experiences. Thank you so much, everyone who's joining. Keep your questions coming in. I will be back tomorrow night. I have Jonathan Overend with me, who's going to be talking us through the time that he got to describe a certain Sir Andy Murray winning Wimbledon for the first time in 77 years. That's going to be special to have him on from a different lens of the sport. 

 

But until next time, I'm Dan Kiernan and we are Control the Controllables.