Episodes

Today we welcome British doubles specialist and Grand Slam quarter-finalist turned coach and commentator, Colin Fleming. Colin reached a career high of 17 in the world in doubles, consistently reaching the main draws of Grand Slams. He represented GB in the Davis Cup and at the Olympics before turning his expertise to coaching, then commentating. He now covers some of the biggest tennis tournaments in the world for Eurosport, Sky Sports and the BBC. Colin has partnered some of the biggest ...

The first Grand Slam of 2024 is finally underway! We´ve brought our panel back together to preview everything we can expect from the Australian Open. Control the Controllables host Dan Kiernan is in Melbourne this year, and is joined by:- US Open Doubles Champion and top 10 WTA doubles player, Gaby Dabrowski Denmark´s Davis Cup Captain and 2012 Wimbledon Mens Doubles Champion Freddie Nielsen. GB Coach Calvin Betton who is currently working with Henry Pattern. They discuss the "po...

In today´s CTC Short we bring you a true stalwart of the tennis tour and someone who is calling time on his career after this year’s Australian Open- it´s former US Open quarter finalist and Episode 25 guest John Millman. Over the span of a 15 year professional tennis career, John Millman has established himself as one of the most consistent and hard-working players on the tour, being a constant in the top 100 ATP Rankings. In 2018 he reached a career high of 33 after a remarkable run to the ...

As 2023 draws to a close, we´ve sat down to look back at some of our most memorable moments of the Control the Controllables Podcast this year. From Sir Andy Murray agreeing to be our Special Guest for our 200th episode, to winning Best Tennis Podcast at the Sports Podcast Awards, and having 6 Grand Slam Champions in one episode, we´ve had some very special moments this year. Listen to CTC Host Dan Kiernan and producer Vicki Kiernan chat through their favourite clips and biggest learnings ...

In our third CTC Short we have a clip from our 200th Episode with Sir Andy Murray. CTC Host Dan Kiernan spoke to Andy back in August 2023, and unsurprisingly, it is our most listened to episode to date. Andy gave us lots of takeaways, including how important he feels it is for aspiring players to watch full matches, and not just the highlights reel. In this clip, Andy explains how watching tennis helped him and how he wished he´d had time to do it more during his career. It´s one of ...

In today´s episode we welcome someone who´s been at the heart of tennis as the BBC’s Tennis Correspondent for over ten years, Russell Fuller. Russell has worked his way up through the ranks of tennis media, working for the BBC World Service presenting Sportsworld, before earning his big break commentating on his first Wimbledon Final in 2013, when Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic to become Champion for the first time. Russell has gone on to be the voice of British tennis’ greatest momen...

Welcome to the 2nd of our CTC Podcast Shorts. In this clip, we have former top-5 doubles and top-40 singles player turned US Davis Cup captain and coach Tom Gullikson. Tom appeared on Episode 110 of Control the Controllables in April 2021, and talked about playing in the Golden era of US tennis in the 70´s and 80´s. His twin brother Tim Gullikson was Pete Sampras´ coach before he passed away in 1996 to brain cancer. In this clip, Tom speaks about the influence Tim had on Sampras´ career an...

In today´s episode we welcome 2002 Australian Open Champion and former world number 7 Thomas Johansson! Thomas began his career in the heyday of Swedish tennis, preceded and surrounded by legends such as Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. As a result, he went under the radar until his career defining run at the Australian Open in 2002. He beat 9th seed Marat Safin to become the first male player seeded 16th to win a major in the Open Era. He is one of only 7 players to win the Me...

Welcome to an all new feature here at Control the Controllables, our Podcast Shorts. With these we’re bringing out all of the most entertaining, informative, heart-warming and hilarious moments from all of your favourite CTC episodes in bitesized chunks for you to enjoy. Whether you’ve been listening to CTC for years or if this is your first sample, Shorts are perfect for you to submerse yourself in the world of tennis and elite sport in short, manageable chunks, or whetting your appetite ...

In today’s episode we speak to former Canadian pro tennis player Patricia Hy. Patricia was a top 30 WTA player and a Grand Slam quarter finalist, who has since become a successful mental skills coach, using her perspective as a former player, coach and tennis parent to help nurture relationships between the three. As a child, she faced hardship like no other tennis player at that time. Born in Cambodia, Hy and her mother were forced to flee the country on foot, escaping to Thailand and the...

A month on from the US Open, and we´re delighted to say we´ve been able to bring the 3 winning doubles pairs together, to tell us about their incredible fortnight in New York. First we chat to Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury who made history by becoming the first pair in the Open Era to win the US Open Men´s doubles 3 years in a row! We then catch up with Women´s Doubles Champions Gaby Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, who reflect on their amazing run at Flushing Meadows in just their 4th tournamen...

The 2023 US Open didn´t disappoint as we saw Coco Gauff win her first Grand Slam title, and Novak Djokovic collect his record-equalling 24th! It was also an incredible fortnight for our very own CTC Host Dan Kiernan who guided his players to not one, but two doubles titles! CTC regular Gaby Dabrowski and her partner Erin Routliffe won the Women´s doubles title, while Harri Heliövaara and Anna Danilina won the Mixed Doubles after only meeting at the sign-in desk the week before. Gaby reu...

In today´s episode we speak to British pro wheelchair tennis player Alfie Hewett. Alfie is 25 and already a 25-time Grand Slam Champion, winning 7 singles and 18 doubles titles with fellow Brit Gordon Reid. Born with the congenital heart defect Tetralogy of Fallot, Alfie was diagnosed with Perthes Disease at the age of six. He chats to CTC Host Dan Kiernan about his journey from being told he was wheelchair-bound at just 7-years-old , to becoming the youngest men´s singles world number 1, ...

As the final Grand Slam of 2023 gets underway today, we´ve brought our amazing panelists together to discuss all things US Open. Joining CTC Host Dan Kiernan is 2012 Wimbledon Men´s Doubles Champion and Denmark´s Davis Cup Captain, Freddie Nielsen, WTA doubles player Gaby Dabrowski, and S&C Coach to Liam Broady, Kieron Vorster. They share personal stories, insights into pro life at Flushing Meadows and their predictions for this years Champions, as well as players to watch out for. Will...

To celebrate our 200th episode of the Control the Controllables podcast we speak to none other than British sporting legend, Sir Andy Murray. Andy is the most successful British tennis player in history, winning 3 Grand Slams and two Olympic Gold medals. In 2015 he led Great Britain to their first Davis Cup title since 1936. He backed that up in 2016, winning his 2nd Wimbledon title, and finishing the year as World number 1. Since 2016, Andy has had to deal with adversity as his career ...

Czech tennis has quietly been leading the way in tennis player development for the past 10-15 years, particularly on the women’s side of the game. What seems like a conveyor belt of world class players have been arriving into the worlds top 100 players and beyond, including Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova. Marketa Vondrousova became the latest Czech player to rock the tennis world when she won Wimbledon in July. Czech players also lifted the ladies doubles, the girls and the boys doubl...

In today´s episode we talk to Dave O´Hare who coaches one of the best doubles teams on the ATP Tour. Dave is a former pro player and still represents Ireland in the Davis Cup. He´s been working with Joe Salisbury & Rajeev Ram for almost 3 years, helping them to World number 1 doubles pair and the 2022 US Open men's doubles title. Dave and Joe were college roommates and doubles partners at the University of Memphis. They also played together on the tour before Dave started coaching Joe & Ra...

In today´s episode we speak to British tennis coach Nigel Sears who has worked at the top of the women´s game for the past 35 years. During that time, Nigel has worked with 8 players who have reached the top 10 in the world, including Daniela Hantuchova, Ana Ivanovic and GB´s Emma Raducanu. His success as a player and a WTA Tour coach has taken him to various roles including Head of Womens Tennis at the LTA, GB Fed Cup Captain and a commentator. He´s also Father-in-Law to a certain Sir And...

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships gave us some amazing moments, and a new King and Queen of Centre Court. Carlos Alcaraz became the first man outside of the Big 4 to win the Wimbledon men´s singles title since 2002. Meanwhile the Czech Republic´s Marketa Vondrousova was the first unseeded player to win the women´s title in the Open era. It was a great year for GB tennis too, with 3 British Wimbledon titles, and in today´s episode we speak to two of the Champions! World men´s doubles number ...

Dominic Iannotti is a current world No. 3 tennis player. His career has taken him from his home in Prestwick, Scotland to Australia, Ecuador and around Europe representing the Great Britain Learning Disability National Squad. Dominic was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at 4 years old and has been playing elite level tennis since he was 14. Now 25, Dominic has recently been both training and coaching at SotoTennis Academy in Spain. In June he competed at the 2023 Virtus Global Games in F...

We´re just a few hours away from the beautiful green grass of Wimbledon being on our screens. It´s our favourite Grand Slam here at Control the Controllables, and we´ve brought back our awesome panellists to chat through what we can expect at SW19 this year! Will Djokovic make it 24 Grand Slam titles? Can Iga win back to back Slams despite not getting past the last 16 here before? Who are the in-form challengers and who should we be looking out for? Our panel also give their inside know...

David Hodgetts´ tennis story is one that many players can relate to. From a talented junior who dedicated his life to becoming a pro tennis player, the rigours of tennis took their toll, and by 19 he´d fallen out of love with the sport and made the decision to stop playing. To help him overcome the feelings of failure and losing his identity, David found a new focus: to build an international coffee shop brand. Fast forward a few years and David sold his Triple Two Coffee business to Cooks...

It was another French Open for the history books this year, as Novak Djokovic became the first man to win 23 Grand Slam titles. His win at Roland Garros also means he´s the first man to win each Grand Slam three times. In the women´s, Iga Swiatek lifted the trophy for the third time in four years. But there was also plenty of drama, stories, and inspirational moments in Paris this year. From the French crowd´s booing of Taylor Fritz, Elina Svitolina´s incredible run just 8 months after ...

As the clay court season comes to an end, it means we´re just a few weeks away from the next Grand Slam of the year (and our favourite), Wimbledon. 🌱🇬🇧 In today´s episode we talk to someone who knows the tournament more than most. Andrew Jarrett was the Referee at Wimbledon for 14 years between 2006 and 2019. A former player from Derby, Andrew represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup, and was a coach before becoming a world-renowned referee, and the face we were so used to seeing on the ...