Day 9 Wimbledon Recap w/ 2023 Wimbledon Winning Coach, Ken Skupski

Episode 296: Day 9 Wimbledon Recap w/ 2023 Wimbledon Winning Coach, Ken Skupski

 

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 (00:01)

Hello and a big welcome to day nine of Wimbledon Live, Control the Controllables and brought to you as ever by Novellus. Another exciting day, another exciting day here at SW19. If you are new to our lives, then please, you will see the opportunity to get your questions in. Whatever questions you have for me, for my guest, anything that's tennis related, please fire away.

 

And we look forward to answering those towards the end of the show. To start with, we're going to give you a little round up, the major moments of the day brought to you by SotoTennis Academy. Our major moment in my world today has been Gaby Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani, who I coach. They've moved into the quarterfinals with a win over Storm Hunter and Caty McNally 6-1 6-4. So that was exciting.

 

And they will go on the court tomorrow, court two tomorrow afternoon, where they'll play their quarterfinal women's doubles match. So please, anyone that's at Wimbledon tomorrow, come along and give them your support. The crowd was electric again today. God, the crowds are good here at Wimbledon. All of the matches, all of the players feel the love and have a beautiful hot day. It hot, was up to 30 degrees today. But we do, on the single side,

 

Jannik Sinner goes marching on very much. Yes, people have got close from within the sets, but they haven't really got close to winning a match against him or even set maybe. Maybe at the odd set he's lost. But that is now at just 24. He's reached his 10th Grand Slam semi-final, becoming one of only five players since 2000 to make 10 men's singles semi-finals at the majors before turning 25.

 

Not a bad little crew that he's in with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. And that's his winning streak up to 12 at Wimbledon, obviously the champion in 2025. And after the match, he spoke on court. He said, in the beginning, I felt like he started better than me. I was struggling a little bit, but then I tried to get into the match. I started to serve a little bit better. I'm very happy to be back in the semifinals here. If only it was so easy, Jannik, for all of us to just...

 

just struggling and then I deserved a bit better. Struff, great story, know, quarterfinal debutant at 36 years old. Made history, just been there really, you know, he took out the 8 seed, Daniel Medvedev on his way to the last 8. And yes, Struff's always a tough character and tough, player to play against, big game. Sure Jannik Sinner will be pleased to see the back of him. And he will then be playing next. I've currently got it in my eye line. We've got Novak Djokovic, 24 time winning Grand Slam winner in Novak Djokovic. It's two sets to one up.

 

And yeah, we've talked about it all the last nine days, you know, is this the time? Is this Novak Djokovic number 25? It looks like we're heading towards that semi-final, but Felix has certainly got something to say about that, maybe about to hold now to go three two up. So we'll keep you updated on that as well.

 

On the men's side. Then of course tomorrow we've got Arthur Fery after his sensational win yesterday over Grigor Dimitrov. Spoke to Jamie Delgado, Grigor Dimitrov's coach earlier today and he was still gutted. There's that horrible feeling. Just for him obviously a big, felt it was a big chance for Grigor, you know, playing against Fery. Felt he didn't play his best match but then also felt that Cobolli was a nice match up for him in the quarter finals as well.

 

And then we've got Zverev against Fritz on the men's side. Then on the women's side, do we, let me know what you think on this, but I just don't think we'd give Coco Gauff enough credit actually.  Coco Gauff is, she just, she turns up. I know that she has a problem sometimes with a serve, but she's a superstar. I love her energy. She was so excited today. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that she'd beaten one of her best friends, Jess Pegula.

 

 I'm sad for Jess. You know, that was Jess Pegula's first time playing on Centre Court. And I'm like, what? Like, Jess Pagula, the ranking she is, the age that she's at, that was her first time on Centre Court, which was amazing. And four- six, six- three, six- three, as she moves into the Wimbledon semi-finalist for the first time in her career, where she'll play someone who she's got an amazing record.

 

She's got an unbelievable record against in Karolina Muchova who took out Naomi Osaka, who obviously we knew took out Sabalenka earlier in the week. And I just had a bit of a feeling Muchova's little slices and change ups would be a nice match up for Muchova against Osaka. And she said after the match, it's unbelievable. I'm super happy with today's win. I played three times on this court and I was on three.

 

So she's starting to think that Centre Court doesn't work for her. I've not had a good relationship with this court, but I'm super happy we finally made it and I got the win. So we're gonna have a winner of either Gauff, Muchova, Nosková, Mertens, Kostyuk or Paolini that were more than this year. So those are the quarterfinals that will happen tomorrow between Nosková, Mertens and Kostyuk and Paolini. The bottom half of the draw. 

 

One of them is going to go through and let's see if Coco Gauff can continue the 6-1 record over Muchova. It seems like that's not a great matchup for Muchova, so we'll see that tomorrow. On the double side, the top seeds, Henry Patten and Harri Heliövaara. Unbelievable. Just been speaking to their coach, Calvin Betton. The third match in a row that they've won 7-6 in the third.

 

They came back from all sorts of different positions. Today they weren't a breakdown in the third, but still they were in a position, 2-6 in the first set. Big comeback, crowd energy, incredible. The crowds are going crazy here. And they will play the alternates in Kovacevic and Kokkinakis, who beat Mektic and Krajikec today.

 

They move into the semi-finals. And I think that's like the third or fourth year running, we've had alternates that have made the semi-finals or final of the men's doubles. So maybe next year people will be hoping that they don't get in the event so that they have a chance to take that alternate slot. And then on the women's side, we were moving a little bit closer. We're now into quarter-final stage because of course the women's doubles final will be the same day as the men's singles final on Sunday. So they've got an extra day.

 

Top seeds, Townsend and Siniakova beat Stollar and Muhammad. And they will then play in the quarterfinals tomorrow. You've got then Dabrowski, Stefani, my team who play against Piter and Siskova tomorrow. And then the mixed doubles has moved to final stage, which final is happening on Thursday. And you've got Ostapenko and Aravelo, they won 6-4 in the third. I thought they'd be a tough team this week.

 

And then Storm Hunter, who lost in the women's third round today to Gaby Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani, has teamed up with Marc Polmans to beat Stollar and Pavic 7-6,6-3. And before we bring Ken on, we have our TennisAthlete player of the day. Anyone wanting to know more about what TennisAthlete is about, look in our notes on the podcast. If you are looking to have expert S &C support remotely.

 

It's not always accessible for tennis players of all ages, stages, then get in touch with tennis athlete doing an incredible job. And that goes to Coco Gauff. Know, Coco Gauff, it's a story of resilience, losing the first set, coming back to win the next two, making her first semi-final at SW19.

 

Yeah, just extending that impressive run of three victories, three set victories here at the All England Club and her mindset quote from early in the tournament, stepping onto this court is something special. I was so looking forward to it. It's an amazing atmosphere and it's something else to play here. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. And what a nice message for us all that gratitude of just feeling lucky to be here, right? And then you have the winner mindset on top of that and a bit of an amazing start really.

 

She'd actually gone two years without winning on grass before this tournament. She's now she's one match away from the Wimbledon final, you know, and it's kind of a big message of just not giving up. You know, she's someone who, whenever anyone doubts a Coco Gauff comes, comes flying back and she's certainly done it this time and we'll see how it goes with, with Muchova on, on Thursday as well. So now let's see Ken.

 

Ken's a college roommate of mine. He never listened to me then and he's still not listening to me now, just like the rest of the guests with this time. But here he is, speaking of the devil, just talking about my college roommate and how he never used to listen and he still doesn't read the PDFs that are sent. Well, big welcome to Control the Controllables. How you doing?

 

Ken Skupski (09:44)

Cheers mate, can you hear me?

 

Dan Kiernan (09:46)

I can hear you well. We could see you at 9.03.

 

Ken Skupski (09:51)

I just wanted to make sure that I was here early on time. Yeah, a bit premature really.

 

Dan Kiernan (09:57)

Are, this is, are guest number nine and eight of you have come in at the wrong time. So you're with the, so like…

 

Ken Skupski (10:02)

Well, I'm not the first then.

 

Dan Kiernan (10:05)

And this is, our producers brought this amazing PDF together. gives the timings. I send the WhatsApp and say, come in at nine 10, cause you come directly live.

 

But we obviously need to look at something yourself first, but big, big thanks for coming on, Ken. I know you've been on the podcast before, not for a while actually. So it's nice to have you, nice to have you back. And we don't want to use up all your time because we could, we could jump into topics and talk and talk. And I'm sure we were itching to get into some doubles conversations around things going on, but maybe we have them off air. There's been lots happening around that obviously this week.

 

I want to bring this to you. know you've had amazing playing experiences, you know, as a junior, you know, when, when we first saw you before you went to LSU, you know, reaching quarterfinals of both men's doubles and the mixed doubles. But I actually want you to talk about Ken Skupski, the coach and something very unique about Ken Skupski, the coaches. You sat in the winner's circle, the winning box on center court, not just for any player, but for your little bro.

 

You know, winning and all, and we're going to talk about the men's doubles win, you know, back in, what year, what year did they win? They won, so I'm going to take you back to 2023. You sat there. I've said this to many people. I don't know if I've said it to you, but you exuded assertive confidence. I thought that day in the box, you know, you, weren't too up and down, you just seemed like it was all absolutely in control. What are you actually thinking inside when your little brother is playing a Wimbledon final?

 

Ken Skupski (11:47)

Yeah, I think from a brother perspective, it's easy to get carried away. And I think you've got to try and keep that sort of level headed focus on what does the player need out of me right now. And obviously my younger brother is, you know, he's obviously a very good doubles player. He's got a great opportunity to go on and do something really special and win a grand slam. And it's obviously very nerve wracking for him being on that stage. So for me to get sort of too high and too low at certain times would probably not help him.

 

So there are times where I think people have seen me on the screen and it looks like I'm a bit flat, I'm a bit quiet and I'm a bit sort of not showing too much emotion. But I think a lot of the time I don't like to wear sunglasses, I like to have that eye contact with the player. And for me, having that sort of level headed calmness all the way through, I think it gives him an understanding that we're locked in and we're ready for whatever's coming next, whether we're up in terms of the scoreline or whether we're down in the scoreline.

 

We stay focused, we stay locked in and we stay present while we're still competing. And then once obviously the result comes, you can do whatever the hell you want. But while that match is still playing out, it's important that he knows that I know deep down that he's got what it takes to do it. And on that particular day did, which was great.

 

Dan Kiernan (13:04)

And in terms of like a day like that, it's a Wimbledon final day, know, and both as big football fans, I go back to like FA Cup final days, you know, there's certain sporting events, they just hit a bit different, right? And it's, how do you go through that process of that day? How do you normalize it? Do you normalize it? 

 

you have to knowledge and have open conversations, okay, it is a Wimbledon final and you're maybe going to experience some emotions and let's get those out. you know, talk me through that process on how that looks and how that played out on that day.

 

Ken Skupski (13:44)

I think we were fortunate for the fact that he'd won the mixed twice on that court. I think for me, having to play on centre court is, it's the holy grail in terms of tennis for sort of playing a final. To have that sort of feeling of winning on that court, I think gives you confidence. And he obviously had that chance with Desirae Krawczyk a couple of times before. So he knew he could play on the big stage. I know obviously mixed doubles might not be considered the same as men's doubles, but for me, It's still a final. still a grand slam. 

 

And he went through, you know, you know, he'd lost a few finals previously, not just at Grand Slam, but in Masters series.We knew that, I mean, personally on that particular week, I knew he was locked in and I knew he was focused and I knew it was the, it was the time that he was going to win. But he still needed to go out and do it. And on that particular day, I had my own issues because the day before I was in Ibiza taking my family on holiday and then came back.

 

 So.I sort of, you know, didn't make his life any easier from that perspective, but I couldn't miss it. It was, it was my own fault in the sense that I booked the wrong week. But we won't go into that detail. But yeah, when I obviously arrived on site.

 

Dan Kiernan (14:56)

we will,we will, we will. What happened?

 

Ken Skupski (15:00)

So basically the October the year before, Hayley and I booked a holiday with the family to Ibiza and we booked it for the week after Wimbledon. But that particular year, I didn't realize that the week—

 

Dan Kiernan (15:12)

and then move back.

 

Ken Skupski (15:13)

—had changed. And it obviously was the Friday of the Wimbledon final. The final would have been on the Saturday. So it was the Friday. I'm like, well, he's got to make the final for it to be a problem, you know? And lo and behold, he obviously made it through to the final. So the Thursday, you know, Haley was very good. She understood the situation and we obviously, you know, I drove home on the Thursday and flew them out Friday morning, flew back Friday night, stayed in Gatwick. 

 

Haley wasn't a big fan of flying. So I knew I had to get them there. Obviously missed the practice on the Friday, but obviously we had Louis Cayer there, Rob Morgan. So we obviously were covered in that sense. And yeah, got back from Gatwick, got to the club early on the Saturday morning and just carried on as normal. 

 

It didn't make a big fuss of the situation. They made a bit of a laugh and a joke at the start, but I just felt like everything was nice and calm and it sort of broke the ice a little bit about the day. They went on court, it was quite blustery outside, so it was a little bit of an unusual practice because obviously we playing on center, it was actually quite nice conditions. If I'm not mistaken, it ended up being indoors. The roof was closed.

 

Leading into the final, was quietly confident that they were both playing extremely well and they came up against Granollers and Zeballos, who obviously were a great team at the time and hadn't won a Grand Slam at that moment in time. So we knew that there was a potential that things were getting a little bit tricky for them in those situations and it was one to—

 

Dan Kiernan (16:43)

Yep.

 

Ken Skupski (16:43)

—take advantage of. And the boys couldn't have played any better. I think they got through a couple of really tough moments at the start.

 

But obviously once they got out there, it's up to them to go and perform and they did a stellar job.

 

Dan Kiernan (16:55)

Just take me to that when the final ball goes out or the final ball's hit for a winner. Forgive me, but I can't picture what happened on match point. Is that emotion? What emotions did you experience in that moment when that happens?

 

Ken Skupski (17:13)

Think for the very, you know, as soon as you know it's out, it's pure joy and excitement. But again, there's a sense of relief as well. It's like he's done it, you know, he's achieved what he's wanted. Know, as a coach, know, I've, you know, I've coached a Grand Slam champion, which is a nice feeling to have. But yeah, I mean, just to share it with the family, all the family were down. It was a great experience.

 

And yeah, we got a cool selfie at the end where they all came up and we got a great selfie. But overall, for me, it was a bit of relief to sort of get over the line and sort of, know, no matter what he did there on out, know, achieving world number one was a big thing. Winning a Grand Slam was a big thing. I think he had a free tip for the rest of his career to go out and, you know, when he played these finals to feel positive knowing he'd done it. 

 

And it was no looking back and thinking I could regret a certain situation, which, you know, he's had difficult moments in the past in terms of maybe last year in the US Open final, having a match point, but that's part of tennis. couldn't fault him for the effort on that particular day. You know, I think obviously it's heartbreaking when it doesn't go your way, especially for the fact that it's against the same team again. It's, know, Granollers Zeballos got us a couple of times last year in epic matches, but...

 

They're great champions and it's part of sport and that's why we love the sport so much.

 

Dan Kiernan (18:40)

And what do you make of the doubles event? Know that Neil and Christian unfortunately aren't in the tournament anymore, but you're seeing obviously Harri and Henry, another six in the third victory today. We've moved now into certainly on one half of the draw, we've moved into the semi-finals. How do you see this playing out from now on the men's doubles side?

 

Ken Skupski (19:03)

Yeah, I mean, it's funny when you get them situations where you get out of a six and a third, another one, and then all of a sudden they go three on the bounce with it. I think these, these really big moments and matches don't become as big. They sort of become second nature. They've done it before. They've done it the day before the day before that they just go through the process and they stick, you know, in the moment and, things obviously clicking for them when they, when they need it the most. And that's, that's a sign of, of a partnership that are in good form and obviously in a positive mind set. 

 

The guys played pretty well yesterday, they served well, the stats were great. We just couldn't find a way to do enough on the return of serve and obviously in the big moments in the match tie, sorry, in the two tie breaks, it just got away from us and them small margins, it's a challenging thing because he had the same situation last year, two six and thirds on the bounce hasn't been broken in two tournaments in a row and you're thinking, well, what could we do better? Well, obviously…

 

The conditions have an effect on that. think the court, for me, seems like it's playing fairly quick. As the tournament's gone on, it's dry, it's fast, the air is, you know, it just feels like the ball's getting played with less in the doubles, so the balls are staying fresher for longer. And we just couldn't get the boys' serves back. know, Kokonakis, I've faced his serve, probably one of the best serves I've faced. And I think he did a really good job yesterday, know, averaging between 125, 135.

 

And his partner who doesn't play that much doubles was the same he was 130, 135 so we had to take advantage of second serves and unfortunately they did a better job of that than we did.

 

Dan Kiernan (20:41)

Quick fire, we have a quick fire round for Wimbledon. I'm under strict instructions to keep these pods on the 30, 35 minutes. So we'll try and be somewhat quick before we move. I don't know if you've got your Dear Dan questioning, but we have the Dear Dan segment at the end. So when you finish the quick fire, you can go off and if there is, can send in your questions.

 

You can put it anonymous if it's an embarrassing question, but I'll try and answer them as best I can. 

 

What's your best Wimbledon memory as a fan?

 

Ken Skupski (21:16)

as a fan?

 

Dan Kiernan (21:17)

As a fan.

 

Ken Skupski (21:18)

Do remember one of my first moments going to Wimbledon with my dad, seeing the Old Court one. We didn't actually have tickets, but my dad was able to sort of stand in the gangway and we looked over sort of, think one of the security people sort of said, you know, I was young, can't remember what age I was, have a look over. We could watch for a couple of games. It was Boris Becker in one of his vests.

 

And that was sort of like that sort of special memory because obviously that court number one doesn't exist anymore. But it was a fantastic court. Back in…

 

Dan Kiernan (21:53)

It was a cool court.

 

Ken Skupski (21:55)

Yeah, it was, yeah. And it was one, it would have been, you know, growing up, I'd love to play on that court, but never got that opportunity. But yeah, just, you know, as a young kid sort of inspired to sort of play tennis, you never know what your dream's going to end up becoming.

 

But yeah, seeing Boris Becker playing on that court for just a couple of games was inspiring enough. I must have been probably seven or eight years old and great memories to sort of get the opportunity to be down there with family. Obviously we got the chance to do it many more times since.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:27)

Finish the sentence: When I think of Wimbledon I think of…

 

Ken Skupski (22:31)

Tradition.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:32)

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

 

Ken Skupski (22:37)

Roger Federer, always Roger, I love them.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:39)

What song would you like to walk out onto Centre Court to?

 

Ken Skupski (22:43)

Ugh. You'll never walk alone.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:46)

I knew it, I knew it. You know what—

 

Ken Skupski (22:48)

Hahaha!

 

Dan Kiernan (22:50)

—was so obvious. It was so obvious. It was always...

 

Ken Skupski (22:54)

Well, was that or the Eye of the Tiger, anyway.

 

Dan Kiernan (22:56)

I asked that question to Freddie Nielsen said that he wouldn't do that at Wimbledon even though it's his favourite song.

 

Ken Skupski (23:04)

One thing quickly, we got the chance to sing You'll Never Walk Alone when Neil won Australia this year with the group of us after the final. So that was pretty special. That was pretty cool.

 

Dan Kiernan (23:11)

I saw that. That was cool.

 

Ken Skupski (23:14)

Yeah, they all sort of sang away. They didn't necessarily know all the words, but we were banging it out. It was a really cool feeling.

 

Dan Kiernan (23:21)

Send me the video, we'll put it out there for anyone that's listening that wants to see it. If you're happy it going out, we'll get it out there on the back of this as well, because it was a lovely moment. 

 

What is the single most important quality in a great doubles partner?

 

Ken Skupski (23:37)

Respect.

 

Dan Kiernan (23:38)

Now that you watch Neil competing, is that harder or easier than competing yourself?

 

Ken Skupski (23:43)

I'd say easier. I don't have to do all the running.

 

Dan Kiernan (23:47)

Your favorite ever Wimbledon doubles champions and why? Not including you bro.

 

Ken Skupski (23:52)

The Bryan Brothers idols, I absolutely looked up to them all the way through my sort of college career into my early pro career. Yeah, amazing men.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:01)

What is your guilty pleasure?

 

Ken Skupski (24:04)

And...

 

Goodness me, put me on the spot there. Think coffee, daily coffee.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:10)

What's one thing you would change about Wimbledon?

 

Ken Skupski (24:13)

I absolutely loved five set doubles.It was the pinnacle of the season for me.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:18)

What's the best advice that you would give young tennis players?

 

Ken Skupski (24:23)

I think the most important thing for me is turning up every day. You won't see a massive change after every single day, but you will notice it long term if you can turn up every single day and give your best effort.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:33)

And who's winning the World Cup?

 

Ken Skupski (24:35)

France.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:36)

It's not coming home?

 

Ken Skupski (24:38)

It could, but I've been thinking France are winning it from the start and they look pretty good to me.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:43)

Argentina 2-0 down earlier today came back and won.

 

Ken Skupski (24:47)

I feel sorry for the Egyptian king.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:50)

Plotting England's run through without Argentina. You know, they seem like a force to get through. Argentina-France—

 

Ken Skupski (24:57)

Yeah.

 

Dan Kiernan (24:57)

—final. It's to be tough to see past it now, I think.

 

Ken Skupski (25:00)

Yeah, absolutely.

 

Dan Kiernan (25:01)

Ken Skupski, amazing. Thank you for joining us on Control the Controllables. All the best with the rest of the season. Enjoy a little bit of family time and we'll see you really soon.

 

Ken Skupski (25:10)

Cheers then, good luck to you too mate.

 

Dan Kiernan (25:12)

Top man, thank you. So then another brilliant guest here at Wimbledon Live, Control the Controllables. We are now day nine, going into day a couple of questions just to get through.

 

Thank you everyone that's sending them in. It's been great to engage in you. Thank you for those that have said hello to me at Wimbledon as well. Fantastic seeing so many of you that are followers, supporters of the podcast. So we do massively appreciate that. First, Dear Dan question from Katie Payne. What is the process in a coach and pro player beginning to work together?

 

We can maybe have a full podcast on that, Katie. It does depend, and that's not a cop out, it just, it does depend. Situations are different. Now, I know with a lot of the top singles players, the process has quite a lot of involvement with agents. I'd like to think a big part of that process in any situation is that there's a lot of conversation and alignment that happens in that initial stage.

 

You know, to really find out if you're aligned in values, if you're aligned in vision, if you're aligned in how you work and your boundaries on, you know, all of these type of conversations that I think the work done before relationships start is the most important. Because quite quickly you want to try and get to a place where you're really established with a strong connection. That's where the magic happens in any relationship, you know, and it's like...

 

Not that coach has magic, it's not about that, it's the relationship can have magic. You know, the relationship can really impact and can shift so many things. having the relevant conversations and honest conversations and what are some of the things, the non-negotiables from one, the coach and two, from the player. You know, I'm a big believer in those type of conversations.

 

Whether that happens with the agents involved, I'm not so sure. I think sometimes coaches become almost sold off by the agent because they've become available. And then they start to nitpick and have these conversations with different other agents and players and, okay, this coach is available and we do this and we do that. It then tends to be like a trial period that happens, which again, I think is smart, but I think a lot of people go into the trial period…

 

of maybe, if that's a week or two, okay, fair. But I've heard sometimes people have trial periods of like three months where they've not really established any solid ground in terms of whether this is the right relationship because there's no such thing as the best coach out there. There is a such thing of the best coach out there for you at a given point in your career. And it's about trying to establish that.

 

And if you establish that, that is when we see some really strong partnerships that form. Also love it, and I'll use Emma Raducanu as an example, for the first time, I think ever, she's the one that went and said, actually, I want Andrew Richardson. And she talked to us in the press conference. She sent him a message and said, hey, and then from there.

 

That relationship started to get established again after she'd won. But it was the big thing, it was her intention, it was her, it's what she wanted. And when you start doing things that you want to do and it's your choice, then for me, that's the place. Because the player has to own that. The player has to be the one that knows what they need and want around them. And we saw immediately Andrew Richardson's comeback and Emma Raducanu has played fantastic. I know she's been injured of Miss Wimbledon.

 

Whereas I think the agents, you might tell that I'm not a big fan of a lot of agents out there. I know there's some really good guys and good girls out there that do a really good job. But I do think there's a bit of an old boys club that happens in our sport. And it's almost like it's just easy to just bring someone in who you already know. Whereas I like...

 

players involvement to be heavy. So that would be a bit of a long winded way of answering that question, but hopefully, hopefully helps you Katie. So thank you. And then the last one from Archie, Archie Rushforth. What does the dream recovery day look like for you and your players during the tournament?

 

I think a dream day for sure, think for most players is a lazy morning, right? Think having the opportunity to have a bit of a lazy morning. Slow morning, there's no bigger, almost privilege than having a slow morning of like, it's a big treat. You get up without maybe an alarm, you go for a bit of a walk into Southfields or the village. I'm not a big coffee drinker but...

 

You get your coffee, you have your eggs in one of the lovely coffee shops and cafes, you know, and you take it very easy. Some players won't be hitting on those days. My doubles players will tend to, and will tend to have already scouted their next opponent. So then we want to be doing some certain kind of situations that are going to come up in the match the following day. You know, so you obviously that takes up a fair bit of the time.

 

And then without a shadow of a doubt, certainly the doubles players I work with, they don't have their own physios. So they'll then be seeing the physios on site. Those that are in the privileged position to have their own physio, they might not even come on site. Like I know Arthur Fery didn't come on site today. And I think that's smart because it's like, if he comes on site, he's got everyone on him. You've got to protect your energy, but he will have the physios working on him at home, wherever he's staying.

 

Probably staying at home because he lives very close. So I'm sure that there's a part of that recovery day will involve that. Some people like to read, go for a walk, see the city shop, you know, different things, but probably not doing too much that's too strenuous or takes too long. And also that finishes at a relatively early time because you don't want to then be coming back.

 

 So, but it's a real treat. And just the word I would use in that is like using gratitude as well. Like I think there's nothing better than that practice day in between matches deep into Grand Slams. It's a real privilege. And I tell players all the time and I certainly personally never take that for granted. I'm like looking around like this is just amazing. Like how cool is this? And we've got quarterfinal the next day or we've got a semi-final the next day or touch wood, you've got a final the next day. 

 

That's, you know, and experiencing that is really special. And again, for me personally, massive, massive tennis enthusiasts love tennis, love the sport. Being a big part of my life, that is something that's very lucky. And if you're lucky enough then to have your family around to spend and do that as well. But yeah, one of kind of tennis's little treasures is those rest days around Grand Slams, the later that you go.

 

Guys, it's been fun. It's day nine.

 

And we'll be back with day 10 tomorrow. There's lots more we're going to be talking about. We're getting to the business end here at SW19. Thank you for listening. Until next time, I'm Dan Kiernan. We are Control the Controllables.