Control the Controllables

The 2022 French Open was an historic event. Rafael Nadal won his 14th Roland Garros and 22nd Grand Slam, as he beat Casper Ruud in the final. Iga Swiatek moved to 35 match wins in a row, and her 2nd French Open title in 3 years as she swept past 18-year-old Coco Gauff in the womens final.More records were broken as Jean Julien Rojer became the oldest male play to win a Grand Slam in the Open era, as he partnered the first ever player from Central America to win a Grand Slam, Marcelo Arvevalo in the Mens Doubles. After a week of training at SotoTennis Academy and travelling with our coach Bruno Argudo, Gordon Reid and his partner Alfie Hewitt won their 10th Grand Slam in a row by defending the men´s wheelchair doubles title. So much for our panel of experts to unpack in today´s episode! 2012 Wimbledon Doubles Champion Freddie Nielsen and Kieron Vorster (Current fitness coach to Liam Broady and former fitness coach to Dan Evans, Tim Henman, Wayne Ferreira to name a few) return to the show to see how their picks faired from our French Open Preview!They also dig into the amazing acheivements and matches we witnessed throughout the fortnight.Listen out for a little bonus Wimbledon 2022 preview, as they pick their winners for this years event at SW19.Another must listen full of insight, inside knowledge, fun and a few belly laughs as well!Links Mentioned in this Episode:-Episode 114: Iga Swiatek - Teenage Gran Slam ChampionEpisode 108 Holger Rune - No DoubtEpisode 10: Gordon Reid - Turning Challenging Times into OpportunitySotoTennis Academy

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

The second Grand Slam of the season is underway!Can Iga Swiatek build on her 30-match winning streak to win the French Open for a second time? Will it be Djokovic, Nadal or man of the moment Carlos Alcaraz making it through the top half of the mens draw? Or, will we have a surprise finalist? Joining CTC host Dan Kiernan to give their expert opinions on all these questions and more are:-Denmark´s Davis Cup Captain and 2012 Wimbledon Doubles Champion, Freddie NielsenKieron Vorster, who has been S&C Coach to Tim Henman, Wayne Ferreira and more recently Dan Evans.Hear their picks for the mens and women´s title at this years event, as well as their ‘outsiders to watch’. They also discuss what impact the ATP and WTA´s decision to remove points from Wimbledon could have on the players, the tournament and the fans.Enjoy all the excitement from Roland Garros and don´t forget to check back in at the end of the fortnight for our French Open Review!Connect with us!Head over to Instagram and follow us at @ctc.podcastYou can also keep up with all the latest from Control the Controllables on our website, www.controlthecontrollables.co.uk

Mark ¨Beef¨ Taylor is the Head S&C Coach at Tennis Australia based out of Brisbane. He is better known as fitness coach to former WTA world number 1 Ash Barty, before she shocked the tennis world by quitting the game aged 25 in March.Mark also spent many years working at the LTA (British Tennis Federation) working with players such as Jo Konta and Dan Evans.In this episode, he chats to Dan about life as an S&C coach to some of the top tennis players in the world. He also looks back on his time working with Ash Barty, and his thoughts on her going from Australian Open Champion to retirement within 2 months.Episode Highlights:-The real Ash Barty, is she who we see on TV?The demands of working with a world number one…or not?How working for free helped kickstart his career.Mark tells us where is nickname “Beef” came from!Are S&C Coaches preparing players for matchplay?Listen to his advice for aspiring S&C coaches, including understanding that they are a support service for the player and coach.Links Mentioned in this EpisodeControl the Controllables: Website | Instagram | EmailFollow Mark “Beef” Taylor on Twitter Episode 102: Louis Cayer - The Guru Episode 136: Matt Little - Andy Murray´s S&C CoachEpisode 142: Keith Reynolds - Are we selling the game of tennis the right way?SotoTennis Academy 

Dalma Gálfi is a former World junior number 1 and Junior Grand Slam champion.Dalma had a strong start to her Pro career, quickly rising up the WTA rankings to 136 in the world aged just 19.After a challenging 4 years, the 23-year-old from Hungary has just broken into the top 100 for the first time.In this episode, Dalma tells us about the pressures and expectations she faced moving into the pro game after her success as a Junior, and why she wouldn´t change a thing.Episode Highlights:-Dalma describes her feelings of relief at becoming a top 100 player.Why quick success at a young age isn´t always beneficial.How the COVID-19 pandemic helped give her perspective on her tennis career.The differences she sees between Hungarian and British tennis cultures.Dealing with the media pressures and expectations that comes with being world junior number 1.Her advice for up and coming players moving into the pro game.Links Mentioned in this EpisodeControl the Controllables: Website | Instagram | EmailFollow Dalma Gálfi: Instagram | Twitter SotoTennis Academy 

Jofre Porta is one of a handful of tennis coaches who can say they´ve worked with two world number 1 players from a young age.The Spanish coach helped guide Carlos Moya from juniors to top of the ATP rankings, and also worked with Rafael Nadal as a junior.Jofre has previously worked for the Spanish Tennis Federation, he´s been a tennis commentator and is currently the Director of Global Tennis Team Academy in Mallorca.In this episode, he talks to Dan about coaching Moya and Nadal, why Spain produces so many players, his thoughts on the up and coming Carlos Alcaraz and much more!Episode Highlights:-Hear about Jofre´s time with Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal.The similarities and differences between Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz at 18.The special relationship between Moya and Nadal.Why he believes effort is not a sacrifice.How he uses technology to help develop resistance.Read the Episode shownotes here.Control the Controllables: Website | Instagram | EmailGlobal Tennis Team International Tennis AcademySotoTennis Academy 

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 time. A powerful listen.Read full shownotes and more at www.controlthecontrollables.co.uk/159

In today´s episode we´re unpacking the biomechanics of the serve with Dr Mark Kovacs.Known as the number one serve doctor in the world, Dr Mark Kovacs has held a number of roles in elite sport including performance physiologist, sport technology consultant, researcher, coach, speaker and author. You can check out his awesome courses here.A former pro player and NCAA Doubles Champion, Mark has worked with dozens of tennis players including John Isner, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys.Listen to him chat to Dan about the 8 stages of the tennis serve, and much more. Get your pen and notepad ready for this one!Read the full shownotes here.Control the Controllables is named Best Tennis Podcast!Control the Controllables has won Best Tennis Podcast of 2021 at the Sports Podcast Awards! 🎉We would like to say a massive thank you for listening, voting, and for your support of the show. A huge thank you also to all of our amazing guests in 2021 who gave up their free time to tell us their stories, and pass on their tennis wisdom and experiences!The award is amazing recognition for our team behind the scenes, and will keep us even more motivated to keep bringing you exciting guests as we continue to look to get under the bonnet of the sport that we all love so much! 🎾 😍Links Mentioned in this EpisodeLearn more from Dr Kovacs in one his coursesControl the Controllables: Website | Instagram | Email

This episode aims to shine a light on a very different area of tennis: betting and gambling.Tennis is one of the most popular sports to bet on, but match fixing is also an ongoing issue.Dave Pilgrim has over 20 years of experience in the betting industry, and is currently a betting and data expert at Sky Bet.Dave applies that expertise to tennis and has a close lens on how the tennis governing bodies and the betting companies are working together to create a safe and controlled environment for all involved.This is a polarising topic and an episode that will get you thinking about the relationship between the sport and the gambling industry as a whole.Episode Highlights:-How common is Matchfixing in tennis?Courtsiding and how the betting industry is trying to combat it.Why Dave thinks tennis and the betting industry have a mutually beneficial relationship.Where does the money that goes into tennis from the betting industry come from?What the gaming industry does to support the life threatening challenges of gambling addicts.You can call the National Gambling Helpline, for free, on 0808 8020 133.You can also access online support groups, forums and free resource at gamblingtherapy.org or download the app.Links Mentioned in this EpisodeControl the Controllables: Website | Instagram | EmailGAMSTOPInternational Tennis Integrity AgencyEpisode 114: Iga Swiatek - Teenage Grand Slam ChampionEpisode 132: Joe Salisbury - Double US Open Champion

In today´s episode we speak to Australian tennis player Matt Reid.Matt has partnered some of the biggest names in Australian tennis during his career, including Nick Kyrgios, Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic. He has a career high ranking of number 60 in Doubles and 183 in singles.Matt has consistently been part of Australia´s Davis Cup squad as a hitting partner and unofficial mentor to the team. He also coached Nick Kyrgios for two years, whilst playing doubles together.Matt gives us a fascinating insight into his time on the tour, and some great stories! A brilliant listen!Read full shownotes here.Episode Highlights:-The highs and lows of his career so farWhy he thinks juniors is such a good route for players.How Australia´s Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt helped him to decide to focus on doubles.His role as unofficial mentor and hitter in the Davis Cup Team.What is was like working with Kygios as a coach & doubles partnerAnd lots more stories from the tour!ConnectControl the Controllables: Website | Instagram | EmailFollow Matt Reid on InstagramCheck out SotoTennis Academy