Control the Controllables – Details, episodes & analysis

With the final Grand Slam of 2024 about to get underway on Monday, we´ve brought our amazing panelists together to discuss all things US Open.

The tennis world has been talking about one thing only in the run up to New York - men´s world number 1 Jannik Sinner being cleared of doping, after testing positive twice for clostebol.

Davis Cup Captain Freddie Nielsen and S&C Coach Kieron Vorster join CTC Host Dan Kiernan to discuss the story which has divided tennis this past week. They also give their predictions and players to watch in today´s episode.

Will in-form Jessica Pegula continue her recent form to claim her first Grand Slam or will Coco Gauff manage her defend her title at Flushing Meadows? Can Djokovic build on his Olympic Gold to win back-to-back US Open titles?

Whoever ends up lifting the trophies, we are in for a brilliant fortnight!

Send us your thoughts and predictions by tagging in @ctc.podcast on Instagram on all social media platforms!

This week on CTC, we welcome to the show coach of 31 time Grand Slam champion Alfie Hewett, Craig Allen!

Craig is a fantastic and generous guest, telling the great story of how he came to coach Alfie, giving his opinions on all things wheelchair tennis, and telling us about his experience coaching some of the brightest juniors in the UK, including Alistair Filmer and Lewis Burton.

This one is a must listen for all young coaches as Craig shares his invaluable advice from 35 years of experience, as well as sharing a little about how to get into pro-level coaching without necessarily being a professional yourself.

Craig's insight and passion for the game of wheelchair tennis is also endearing and fantastic to see so enjoy the episode!

Tag @ctc.podcast on Instagram or Twitter and check out our YouTube to let us know what you're thinking, and to check out exclusive video clips of all our podcasts!

• Alfie Hewett on Episode 202 here
• The Vodafone advert is here
• Lewis Burton on Episode 113 here
• Alistair Filmer on Episode 134 here

This week we welcome back to the show another one of our classic guests, it’s seven-time NCAA national champion winning coach with the team at UCLA, Valorie Kondos Field.

Valorie initially appeared on Episode 62 of Control the Controllables, soon after her viral Ted Talk, ‘Why Winning Doesn’t Always Equal Success,’ and she shared her experience coaching in a sport that she didn't grow up playing or coaching in, and talked about her plans after she retired from UCLA in 2018.

In this edition, Valorie returns to talk about her experience since then and how that has shaped the way she has cultivated her philosophy on coaching and life.

Valorie also talks about writing her new book, an update to her first book, Life is Short, Don't Wait to Dance, where she discusses a possible return to coaching and her experience of motivating athletes to compete at the top level whilst experiencing personal trauma, in her case this was breast cancer in 2014.

Once again, Valorie is an incredible listen for coaches and playing a life, bringing her experience of a whole career of learning the art of coaching to the episode.

Connect with us:

• Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for all the latest news on Control the Controllables Podcast!
• Valorie’s social media: Instagram - Twitter
• Episode 62 of Control the Controllables
• Valorie’s Ted Talk
• CTC Youtube
• SotoTennis Academy: Instagram | X | Website

It´s not been a bad few weeks for GB´s Joe Salisbury. In fact, it´s not been a bad year!

The 29-year-old completed a US Open double at the weekend, winning the Men´s Doubles with partner Rajeev Ram on Friday, followed by the Mixed Doubles title with Desirae Krawczyk the next day.

Joe has now reached 5 Grand Slam doubles finals in 2021, winning 3 of them. He´s now world number 4 and a 4-time Grand Slam Champion.

In this episode, Joe talks to CTC Host Dan Kiernan about his amazing fortnight at Flushing Meadows and the incredible run to the women´s title by fellow Brit Emma Raducanu.

He also discusses:-

• Why 2021 has been such a successful year for him.
• The benefits of his consistent partnership with Rajeev Ram.
• The impact of coaches Justin Sherring, Louis Cayer & Rob Morgan on his career.
• Playing his first Olympics this summer with Andy Murray.
• He confirms if he and Desirae Krawczyk will go for their 3rd Grand Slam together at the Aussie Open.
• His goals for his tennis career and after. 
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Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Episode 129: Wimbledon Review

Episode 102: Louis Cayer - The Guru!

Follow Joe Salisbury on Twitter: @joesalisbury92

Follow Joe Salisbury on Instagram: @joesalisbury92

Facundo Lugones has been Cameron Norrie´s coach since 2017. 

The pair played together on the Mens Tennis Team at Texas Christian University for 12 months, before Facu became a Graduate Coach for the team. 

The 28-year-old Argentinian has guided Norrie to 3 ATP Challenger Tour titles, and 2 ATP Tour Doubles Titles. In June, Norrie reached the final at Queens, before winning his first ATP title in July in Los Cabos, breaking into the top 30 for the first time.

In this episode, CTC Host Dan Kiernan chats to Facu about:-

• Why he thinks Norrie has had such a successful 2021 so far.
• Growing up playing in Argentina with Diego Schwartzman & Nicolás Kicker
• Why he thinks Argentina is producing so many players
• Why he doesn´t think money is an obstacle for players to be successful
• HIs time at US College and how he moved from playing into coaching.
• His advice to young coaches.
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Links Mentioned in this Episode

Episode 55: Cameron Norrie - College Stud to Pro Life

Episode 96: David Walsh - Pursuit of the Truth

Follow Facu Lugones on Twitter: @faculugones

Follow Control the Controllables on Instagram: @ctc.podcast

If you watched any of the 2021 Australian Open in January, you wouldn´t have missed Craig Tiley.

The Director of the Aussie Open was on our screens throughout the tournament as he dealt with tennis players and officials in hotel quarantine for 14 days, and a local lockdown in Melbourne.

In this episode, Craig talks to CTC Host Dan Kiernan about the difficulties of running a Grand Slam during the pandemic, and shares all the latest of what the 2022 Australian Open will look like. 

Craig also looks back on his career in tennis which started in is native South Africa and includes being South Africa´s Davis Cup Captain for 3 years. He also spent 11 years in the USA as Head Coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. There he led the mens team to 2 National Team Indoor Championships, as well a 32–0 record and an NCAA Championship in 2003.

Now, as well as running the Australian Open, Craig is also the CEO of Tennis Australia.

Craig´s passion for tennis and love of helping others shines through in this episode. Enjoy!

Enjoyed the episode? 

We´d love to hear from you! Leave us a rating and review here!

You can also head over to our website or follow us on Instagram for all the latest on Control the Controllables!

Follow Craig Tiley on Twitter

We´ve kept you waiting for this episode, but it´s worth the wait! 

Listen to our review of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships with this year´s Mixed Doubles Champions Neal Skupski & Desirae Krawczyk. 

Neil has recently reached a career high of 14 in the world in doubles. The Brit teamed up with Desirae for the first time at Wimbledon, fresh off the back of her French Open Mixed doubles title with GB´s Joe Salisbury. 

Also joining the review is Desirae´s coach Craig Veal. They chat to CTC host Dan Kiernan about the highs and lows at SW19 this year, their experience on Centre Court and run to the Mixed doubles title. They also chat about Neils experience representing GB at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Desirae also answers the burning question....who will she be playing with in the Mixed at next month´s US Open, Joe or Neil?! 

Enjoy! 

Connect with us! 

For all the latest on the Control the Controllables podcast, head to our website www.controlthecontrollables.co.uk 

You can also follow us on Instagram at @ctc.podcast We´d love to hear from you! 

If you´re feeling extra generous, you can leave us a rating and review over on Apple Podcasts.

Maik Burlage is a former professional tennis player, and now the founder and CEO of Wingfield. 

The 30-year-old German played professionally for nearly 3 years, before moving into Coaching and then tech innovation. He set up Wingfield with the aim to bring affordable smart match and performance analysis to the wider tennis community.

Wingfield´s technology gives players the opportunity to receive instant video and data from their practise session or match at their local club. 

The data, like your first serve percentage, is delivered on the court or through a smart phone app.

Listen to Maik talk to CTC Host Dan Kiernan about:-

• His tennis career
• How he moved from player to coach to entrepreneur.
• Where his love of data came from.
• How he used the skills he acquired as a tennis player to set up his own company.
• How he would use data analysis as a coach.
• The future of data in the sport of tennis.
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Links Mentioned in this Episode:-

Find out more about Wingfield

Episode 123: Luke Jensen - Choose Confidence

A fan of Data Analysis? You might also like these episodes:-

Episode 116: Mike James - A Numbers Game

Episode 23: Craig O’Shannessy - Money ball of tennis!

Don´t miss an episode! 

Hit Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. You can also Rate and Review the podcast and let us know what you think. 

Or head over to @ctc.podcast on Instagram and hit follow. We´d love to hear from you!

Dr Jim Loehr is a world-renowned performance psychologist.

He´s worked with hundreds of top athletes including Olympic Gold medalists and tennis players Jim Courier, Monica Seles & Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.

During his career he´s also worked with military Special Forces, Hostage Rescue teams, surgeons and Fortune 500 CEOs to achieve sustained high performance.

Listen to Dr Loehr talk to CTC Host Dan Kiernan about:-

• How he started working with his first tennis player, Tom Gullikson
• His time working with Jimmy Connors & Nick Bollettieri´s Tennis Academy (now IMG Academy)
• Why he thinks more players aren´t travelling with sports psychologists…yet.
• How to train mentally and emotionally.
• Tips to help build your confidence.
• His belief that character strength can be built in the same way that muscle strength is built, through energy investment.
• The Hidden Scorecard – the importance of having different success measures.
• His time working with Olympic gold medal speed skater Dan Jansen.
• Advice to parents, players and coaches who don´t have access to a sports psychologist.
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An incredibly informative episode, get your notepads and pens at the ready!

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Website: www.jim-loehr.com

Check our Dr Jim Loehrs books here

Watch Dan Jansens´s Story - Never Give Up

Listen to our episode with Tom Gullikson 

In this episode we speak to British youngster Arthur Fery.

The 19-year-old came within 1 match of making the main draw at Wimbledon this year, beating former top 40 player Matthew Ebden in the Qualifying at Roehampton.

Arthur has recently hit a career high world ranking of 840. He had a successful junior career reaching world junior number 12, and made the semi-finals of the boys doubles at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open. He´s now studying at California´s Stanford University, signing with the highest UTR of all freshman in 2019, 13.94.

Arthur´s parents are French but he grew up in Wimbledon, not far from the All England Club. His mother, Olivia, also played professional tennis, reaching the top 200 in the world and representing France in the Fed Cup. His father Loic is the owner of French Ligue 1 football team Lorient.

Listen to Arthur talk to CTC host Dan Kiernan about:-

• Why he thinks his junior career was so beneficial 
• The impact his Mum has had on his tennis
• Why he thinks game identity is so important
• His decision to go to US College and his time so far at Stanford University
• The benefits of working with 2 Coaches
• The importance of enjoying your tennis!
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Enjoying Wimbledon? You won´t want to miss our Brits at Wimbledon Special! 10 former and current British players including Kyle Edmund, Chris Wilkinson & Claire Taylor relive their Wimbledon stories and experiences. 

Links Mentioned in this Episode:-

Arthur Ferry on Instagram: @arthurfery

Episode 108: Holger Rune - No Doubt

Episode 125: Brits at Wimbledon Special!