Candy Reid speaks to Cecilia Fillol, mother of Chilean player Nicolas Jarry

Wellness manager and physio Andres Vial speaks to Candy Reid about working with Felix Auger-Aliassime

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON BEING WORLD NUMBER ONE - ‘If you’re aiming to be top five, top ten, top fifteen in the world and want to reach a certain level of consistency and that’s your goal, that’s fine but it’s completely different story if that’s your goal and that’s all that interests you and I was never interested in being anything other than number one’.

MARCA TENNIS EDITOR JOAN SOLSONA ON HOW YOU CAN COMPARE CARLOS ALCARAZ TO RAFAEL NADAL - ‘In terms of style of game they are totally different, but of course Alcaraz is only twenty and when Nadal was twenty, he had two or three Grand Slams, so we can compare it in that way. Both of them start winning at a very young age, but you know, Alcaraz sees Nadal no as a rival, but a an idol’.

JANNIK SINNER ON PLAYING IN FRONT OF A HOME CROWN IN TURIN - ‘For sure the crowd is behind me and obviously I will try my best to make them happy and win as many matches as possible, but in a way I have to enjoy the moment, it’s going to be a good moment for me and hopefully it’s going to be a good tournament’.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV ON THE NITTO ATP FINALS BEING A ROUND ROBIN EVENT - ‘You play against the best players in the world, so sure it’s going to be tough for you. The round robin changes, if you lose a match, you get another chance, but when you go into the tournament it's to try to not lose this match’.

ANDREY RUBLEV ON HOW HE’D LIKE TO PLAY BEST OF FIVE SETS AT THE TOUR FINALS - ’There you don’t play that many matches, in total only five matches and if they have like in the Slams one day play, one day not play, best of three sets, I don’t know, best of five I like the feeling, or at least the final’. 

ALEXANDER ZVEREV ON MAKING IT TO TURIN AFTER INJURY - ‘In the beginning I was nowhere near making Turin, I was just thinking about how to win matches and it kind of turned around in the summer for me and from then on it was kind of fun to play tennis matches again’.

HOLGER RUNE ON THE BIGGEST LESSON HE’S LEARNT THIS YEAR - ’Stability in life. To have a team that is there for the right reason and that they are there for you. I feel it is important as a player that you have the people around you that you feel you can always learn from and you respect them one hundred per cent’.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS ON GIVING A PEP TALK TO A YOUNGER STEFANOS - ’This is going to be a long difficult, but enjoyable journey. Try to love the game as much as you can, just think positively, don’t let negativity drown you and stay on your feet, even if you get punched’.

RAJEEV RAM AND JOE SALISBURY ON THIER INDIFFERENT YEAR - ‘It’s tough to say it’s not a good year when you win a Grand lam, but overall we’ve not been happy with how a lot of it has gone and had we not won the US Open then it would have been a very poor year by our standards’.

SANTIAGO GONZALEZ ON PLAYING ELITE TENNIS AT THE AGE OF FORTY - ‘If you’d have asked me the question two year ago I would have said that forty is a good year to quit but now I’m playing my best tennis, I’m healthy, I have no injuries, I’m enjoying travelling, I’m enjoying playing, I’m enjoying competing, so I would say I have another two or three years at least’. 

GUSTAVO KUERTEN ON WHAT IT’S LIKE TO END THE YEAR AS WORLD NUMBER ONE - ‘It was for sure the best achievement for me as a human being. The passion, the love, the emotion, going to my mother to give her back the hug that brought us the number one sport in the world’.

- Presented by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Chris Bowers, Candy Reid, Jill Craybas and Ursin Caderas

- Djokovic, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Sinner and Gustavo Kuerten features by ATP Uncovered

Australian Open doubles finalist Jason Kubler speaks to Candy Reid about a number of topics including how he's changed his mindset and his hopes for the future.

Ash Barty's former coach Craig Tyzzer speaks to Candy Reid about the duo's successful career together and how they are both looking to help the next generation of stars.

Taylor Fritz's coach Michael Russell speaks to Jill Craybas about his amazing tournament victories in Indian Wells and Tokyo 2022 and they also speak about Taylor reaching the world's top 10 for the first time.

American Tommy Paul's coach Brad Stine speaks to Jill Craybas about the young player's development, his injury struggles and hopes for the future.

This week presenter Chris Bowers is joined by former WTA player Jill Craybas and AO Radio commentator Peter Marcato as they look back on the first week of action at the Australian Open and ahead to week two. Headlines are...

PETER MARCATO ON PLAYING TENNIS INTO THE EARLY HOURS - ‘Tennis takes longer to play these days, there’s no doubt that matches are getting longer, but also, do they arrive out onto court on time, the time in-between matches, the bathroom breaks, injury timeouts, it seems to be getting longer and longer, so I think that needs to be taken into account’.

JILL CRAYBAS ON A GREAT FIRST WEEK FOR THE AMERICANS - ‘I think there’s been a United Cup effect in that it’s rubbed off into the first week of the Open. If you just see the way they are all acting together and how they gelled as a group, it got them all into a headspace where they had that confidence and I know I’m leaving a lot of Americans out like JJ Wolf and Tommy Paul, but I mean, it’s just been phenomenal’.

JILL CRAYBAS ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE MEN’S GAME - ‘We’ve seen it with the women, how anyone can win it and I feel like that’s starting to happen with the men, you’re seeing so many different guys play so well and get upsets and different names pushing further in slams, which we see in the women’s quite a bit, so I’m excited about both tours right now’.

Plus...

YOSHIHITO NISHIOKA ON THE ADVICE HIS MUM GAVE HIM - ‘A couple of years ago my mum told me that I shouldn’t expect to win all matches, but that I can win some matches and have a good time, so now I don’t think too much about winning or losing but instead just play and focus and then maybe I can have a chance to win. So right now I’m just trying to play my best tennis and if that doesn’t work, I’ll just try the next week’.

ROBERT LINDSTEDT ON WINNING THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN DOUBLES - ‘Winning the Australian Open was just relief for me because I had so many opportunities in Wimbledon the year before, so It was just a relief of not losing another one, but actually winning was unbelievable and we really enjoyed it late into the night and the next morning’.

ROBERT LINDSTEDT ON HOW THE DOUBLES GAME CAN GROW - ‘It’s been strong for a very long time, it’s got so much more athletic and physical, you can’t really be lazy anymore, everybody is training like a singles player if I can use that term, but what we can do more is actually getting the opportunity to showcase the sport, to show we’re entertaining and that it’s a beautiful sport’.

- Podcast presented by Chris Bowers

- Podcast guests - AO Radio commentator Peter Marcato & former WTA player Jill Craybas

- Interviews by Jill Craybas

Steve Baldas, CEO of W Sports and Media talent agency and advisory firm speaks to Candy Reid about how they manage the careers of high profile sports stars, including tennis players Lleyton Hewitt, Dan Evans, Jason Kubler and Storm Hunter, as well as media professionals and music performers.

Website - https://www.wsportsandmedia.com.au/

Former WTA Tour Supervisor Yannick Yoshizawa speaks to Jill Craybas about working with his new company, Sense Arena (https://www.sensearena.com). Sense Arena have created virtual reality software to help tennis players train the mind more effectively.

Christian Zahalka speaks to Jill Craybas about coaching Yoshihito Nishioka and what he's learnt from decades in the game.

JILL CRAYBAS ON BREAK POINT HELPING FANS TO GET TO KNOW THE PLAYERS BETTER - ‘Netflix did a great job with 'Drive to Survive', and I think you get a better insight into the players when you understand where that emotion is coming from more often. When I watch the Olympics, I don’t know a lot of the athletes from curling or biathlon but you get a five minute snippet of a background story and all of a sudden your immersed in how they are doing in curling or biathlon or whatever sport it is that I don’t follow throughout the year, but I’m paying attention now and I’m hoping that is what this does’.

PETER MARCATO ON BREAK POINT LETTING FANS FIND OUT WHAT GOES ON BEHIND-THE-SCENES - The biggest thing for me is to get an idea of what goes on behind-the-scenes. We might see a match and see what happens but we don’t see the aftermath, we don’t see them travelling around, you know, players who are in a relationship and then they don’t see each other for weeks because the tours diverge, that sort of thing I think is fascinating’. 

JILL CRAYBAS ON THE UNITED CUP - ‘I just ran into Petra Martic who was involved with the Croatia team and I asked her about it and she was just glowing and she just said she wants more of these team events because whilst they see the male players at tour events, they actually get to hang out, spend time with each other, get to know each other and it was a whole different experience’.

PETER MARCATO ON WHETHER TENNIS CAN DO A BETTER JOB OF TELLING IT'S STORY - ‘The tricky part is that it’s in many different sections and many different parts. We have two main tours, we have the Grand Slams, we have the ITF who run some of the team events and the lower levels, it’s really hard to tell that story cohesively, to get a full narrative, particularly on something that runs week-in-week-out, but it’s something we should be looking at to then promote the sport as widely as possible, not just to watch it, but to get people playing it as well’.

CHRIS BOWERS ON THE VALUE OF TELLING PLAYERS BACK-STORIES - ‘There are so many good back stories and this is perhaps something that's even bigger in something like wheelchair tennis where understandably they want to promote this as a tour, but the really interesting thing about the wheelchair tour is the back story of the players, what tennis has actually done for them. I do wonder whether the key for tennis being able to tell a better story is that the tennis governing bodies need to develop a better relationship with the players agents, so that there is a greater responsibility on behalf of the players to serve their sport’.

JILL CRAYBAS ON NOVAK DJOKOVIC - ‘It’s incredible what was thrown at Djokovic last year and the fact that he finished fifth and won the tour finals at the end of the year is just amazing and it’s great to see him back in Australia’.

PETER MARCATO ON RAFAEL NADAL AGAINST JACK DRAPER IN THE FIRST ROUND - ‘You’ve got to get the best of Nadal in three out of five sets and that’s always the dynamic. The top players are always able to manage that so well and for the younger players, because there’s no three out of five other than the majors, they don’t get that experience. Jack Draper won’t be scared of Nadal as he has a big game and massive serve and in 2022 he learnt a lot about himself and his game and he’s been making massive improvements, but the big thing for me is that after two sets he’d normally be walking off and be in the locker room with everyone saying how good he was, but here he's got to step out for a third set’.

CHRIS BOWERS ON MATTEO BERRETTINI - ‘He could get tremendous support. All the people who featured in the Netflix documentary might find a lot of people saying ‘Oh Berrettini, he’s that guy who’s lovely to his granny’ and whilst I don’t want to over value that particular scene, if that brings out people who really do cheer for him, he could find this is a home tournament’.

PETER MARCATO ON THE AUSTRALIANS - ‘On the men’s side having De Minaur and Kyrgios on the same side of the draw doesn’t really help things along the way, but in terms of contenders to go deep, you might get a few who can cause a few upsets in the first week, but they’d be the two in the second week and obviously then there’s Kyrgios and Kokkinakis in the doubles’.

-Show presented by Chris Bowers

-Podcasts guests - AO Radio Commentator Peter Marcato and former player Jill Craybas

-Views expressed in this podcast episode are those of the on air team and not necessarily those of the ATP.

Coach Rob Morgan speaks about what he's learnt working alongside the likes of Joe Salisbury, Rajeev Ram, Dan Evans and current player Wesley Koolhof.

Candy Reid catches up with Mexican star Santiago Gonzalez to find out more about the 40-year-old Nitto ATP Finals player.

Jill Craybas speaks to physio Marc Boada about what he's learnt through his career and what he's done to help Andrey Rublev reach the top of the came.

Note: This conversation was recorded towards the end of 2022.

Coach Phil Farmer discusses what he's working on with doubles player Austin Krajicek as he aims to take the American and his partner, Ivan Dodig to the top of the sport as well as what he learnt working alongside the Bryan Brothers as they won Grand Slam titles and reached number one in the world.

JOHN NEWCOMBE ON LEARNING FROM THE BEST - ‘I was someone who would observe people who had reached the very, very top and just watch what they did and I figured out that that’s how hard they trained, that’s how they do it, so I’ve got to do it at least as hard’.

JOHN NEWCOMBE ON LEARNING FROM FAILURE - ‘I was told when I was twelve years of age that you learn more from every match you lose, than every match you win, so rather then sulk after I lost a match, I had a practice that within an hour I would sit down by myself and I would do a serious analyzation of why and where I actually lost the match and not being afraid to say that the other player was just better’. 

JOHN NEWCOMBE ON CAMARADERIE IN HIS DAYS - ‘I don’t know what the guys do now, but In those days when we left Australia we we away for eight months so the other boys became your family and you’d practice together and Roachy and I, we wouldn’t play a three set practice match, we’d play a five set practice match and try to kill one and other on the practice court. It was sort of a fellowship we had together and I noticed that players from other countries wouldn’t be cheering for their compatriot whereas we were very much cheering for one an other’.

JOHN NEWCOMBE ON THE PRESS - ’Now there’s a lot of new journalists involved in the sport and the guys and girls have to be so careful about what they do and say around them. We’d take the journos out to dinner, get them to have quite a few drinks and get the goods on them!’.

JOHN NEWCOMBE ON VISUALISATION - ‘It was something I learnt when I was in my late teens, I would visualise the court and walking on the court and who my opponent was going to be and tossing for serve and playing the match and it was like a dress rehearsal and when I went out there I felt that this was very comfortable, I’ve been here before’.

JOHN NEWCOMBE ON MINDSET - ‘I said to myself, you’ve got sixty seconds before you walk onto the court and you’ve allowed negativity to take over your whole body in the next sixty seconds you’ve got to force out all of that negativity, when you go out on the court there’s going to be a player at the other end of the court and a tennis ball and that’s it’.

JOHN NEWCOMBE ON HIS FAMOUS MOUSTACHE - ‘My wife and I were on holidays in Hawaii and I grew a moustache and I asked her what she thought and she said she liked it so I got the seal of approval and it went from there. I signed with a clothing company and they came up with all these logos and one of them was the moustache logo and of course that became my logo and it went on everything’.

LORENZO BELTRAME ON CHARACTER - ‘Every person has to decide what person they want to become and build into that space. To me character is the automatic version of attitude. Attitude is what we can drive everyday with effort, so today I can choose my attitude and the more I choose the attitude I want to have, the more I build character and eventually it becomes part of my normal behaviours’.

JULIA GÖRGES ON LEARNING TO RELAX - ‘From being scheduled 24/7 to not being schedule 24/7, that’s already a huge chance for body and mind and beside that we’ve got to get some yoga and meditation stuff in, so I really enjoy it. I’m writing a blog every two to three weeks and it’s about mental health, meditation, goal-setting, stress release, supplements and nutrition, all what is good for your body. I feel there is a lot that can be improved in the world and if I can help someone just one per cent, I’m super happy about it’.

JOE SALISBURY ON MEDITATION - ‘It’s definitely helped both on and off the court, just feeling you’re more in control of your mind. You can always help the thoughts that come into your head, the emotions that you’re feeling, but it just helps you deal with them better’.

DAVID O’HARE ON DIET AND NUTRITION - ‘When I was a player I had an unhealthy approach to food in viewing it all as fuel. Now I just think it’s one of life’s great pleasures that you can enjoy and I think your relationship to food is really important, so I think that me stressing or feeling guilty over having an ice cream probably has more of a negative effect on me then having the ice cream itself. A little bit of everything isn’t going to hurt’.

MARC BOADA ON MANAGING THE PHYSICAL ASPECT OF ATHLETES BODIES - ‘With Novak Djokovic you always feel like all his shots are in perfect control. In order to hit the ball harder, you don’t need to be stronger, you need to use your body better and this is a main goal. 

-Show presented by Seb Lauzier

-Interviews by Jill Craybas 

Jill Craybas speaks about the workings of the mind with Lorenzo Betrame from the Italian Tennis Federation. Before taking up a role with the Italian Federation, Beltrame was Director of the legendary LGE Performance System / Human Performance Institute and has also personally trained dozens of professional athletes including 9 players who reached the #1 ranking in the world.

LARS CHRISTENSEN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF STATISTICS - ‘I’ve been doing it from the very beginning, even when he was ten and in the beginning it was about how many unforced errors, how many forced and winners he would do in a match and specifically looking at forehands and backhands and now getting older it’s more about serve and return and serve plus one and return plus one, so it’s getting more specific but I’ve kept the statistics always and I always compare during the year’.

ROB MORGAN ON GOAL-SETTING - 'The first thing I always do with a player is sit down and work out what’s the goal, what’s the vision, what does it look like and where do we want to be by the end of the year, so I think sharing a vision is a massive part of coaching. Painting a picture regularly to a player is vital’.

ALEX MOLCAN ON LEARNING FROM WATCHING NOVAK DJOKOVIC - ‘Playing against Djokovic showed me it’s not about playing crazy fast or trying to be extremely aggressive, it’s about the head and you know it looks like Djokovic is playing chess. It was a really incredible experience, I learned a lot from it, I saw how maybe I can play, not exactly, but some moves, how he’s thinking, I was re-watching this match a lot and yes, the experience was amazing, it was a good school for me’.

SERGIY STAKHOVSKY ON THE WAR IN UKRAINE AND EXPERIENCING OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE - ‘I’m alive, the family is safe, they are in Budapest, they are warm and fed, they go to school, so I think everything is good with them. We all hope we are ok, but unfortunately we don’t know that, it’s unprecedented times, it’s a war, so everybody is trying to live through it to the standards they can. Coming here to Turin after Kyiv has been hit multiple times, coming to a city where it’s quiet and peaceful and people are having fun on the tennis court and cheering for tennis, it’s different’.

ROGER FEDERER ON SAYING GOODBYE TO COMPETITIVE TENNIS - ‘I’ve definitely given I feel like everything and more to my career than what I could have done. I got to enjoy and learn what hard work and dedication means, so for me, I don’t know how much more I could have given, could have tried, I tried I feel a lot of different things, but I feel I’m old enough now to call it a day and I feel really good about it.

PLUS MCENROE, BORG, SAMPRAS, AGASSI, HEWITT AND MANY MORE PICK OUT THE FAVOURITE MOMENTS FROM THEIR CAREERS

-Show presented by Seb Lauzier

-Interviews by Jill Craybas and Chris Bowers

-Features by ATP Uncovered

WESLEY KOOLHOF ON PROMOTING THE DOUBLES GAME - ‘A bit more Centre Court time would be great if that’s possible. Some tournaments do it actually and it’s always nice for us to play in big arenas, in big stadiums. Scheduling-wise I understand that the singles guys are playing on the big stages, but it would be nice for us to play the first, second or even the quarter-final on the bigger court’.

JOE SALISBURY ON WINNING WHEN NOT PLAYING WELL - ’That’s always one of the things we’ve always said we’ve improved the most as a team in the last four years we’ve been playing together, is that in the tough situations we always find a way, even if we’re not playing out best, or we’re struggling or we feel our opponents are playing better, to win those matches’.

DAVID O’HARE ON LOUIS CAYER - ‘He’s been such an important figure in terms of my tennis knowledge and coaching. He’s dubbed the doubles guru but that does him a little bit of an injustice because he’s fanatical about tennis and his approach is a systematic approach. He’s really special, he’s like a tennis father to me and to be able to sit beside him during matches to pick his brain, ultimately he has a great vision and I try to implement what he says on a daily basis’.

HARRI HELIOVAARA ON THE IMPORTANCE OF CELEBRATING - ‘I’ve always loved competition and competition has the element of winning and losing and of course winning is much better. Now that I’m older I know that it’s not going to last forever, so I’m going to enjoy every moment to the full and when you win matches you made a good job, so why wouldn’t you celebrate’.

LLOYD GLASSPOOL ON THE SPRINGBOARD MOMENT OF GETTING INTO THE ROME MASTERS - ‘Looking back I think it had a massive impact on our year. It was our first real opportunity to play the top, top guys in a tournament that we’d never been in before. That was our first Masters 1000 because of our ranking and just being able to compete in that, we played the world number one and beat the world number one, so it was just a confidence booster and realisation that we could be one of the best teams in the world’.

MARCELO AREVALO ON WINNING ROLAND GARROS - ‘Being the first Salvadorian and Central American player to win a Grand Slam it was a huge success for my country and for my region. I didn’t even know until later that I was the first one, I was just trying to win as many matches as possible and I had my goals clear and one of my main goals in life was to become a Grand Slam champion’.

MICHAEL VENUS ON TRAVEL - ‘Once the pandemic hit I didn’t see my family for six months and then again my wife was pregnant with our second child and I was at home for the birth and then I left two weeks after and I didn’t see her for the first six months after that too, so it got to the point where we needed to see each other as a family, so they started travelling towards the end of last year and they’ve been doing that ever since’.

JOHN NEWCOMBE ON THE LACK OF SINGLES PLAYERS INVOLVED IN THE DOUBLES GAME - ‘When you talk about doubles you bring up something that’s a bit of a sore point with me because it’s just a pity that none of the top players compete in doubles. Ninety percent of players around the world play more doubles than singles. I understand that best of five sets, the top players don’t want to play, but as far as doubles goes I would like to see them having to play more doubles in the regular tournaments where it’s two out of three sets’.

NIKOLA MEKTIC ON LOOKING FORWARD TO A GOOD 2023 - ‘I think mentally we have learned some things this year. The first year we didn’t have many setbacks and this year we had to adapt to some not-so-good results, which I think in the end we pulled through, so I’m very optimistic for the next season’.

-Show presented by Seb Lauzier

-Interviews by Jill Craybas and Chris Bowers

Slovakian player Alex Molcan speaks to Chris Bowers about his rise up the rankings and his work now under coaches Marian Vajda and Karol Beck.

Coach James Trotman sits down with Jill Craybas at the NextGen ATP Finals to discuss Jack Draper's development and what they will be working on going into 2023.

Irish coach David O'Hare speaks to Jill Craybas about the work he's been doing with 2022 Nitto ATP Finals champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, as well as how he became a coach after his playing career and learning from legendary coach and mentor Louis Cayer.

Strength and Conditioning trainer Jez Green speaks to Jill Craybas about what he's learnt working with the likes of Seb Korda, Andy Murray And Alexander Zverev.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS ON HOW HE EVALUATES HIS DEVELOPMENT - ‘I look at things such as finals, how many I was able to play this year, how consistent I am as far as going deep into tournaments and if I’m able to go deep in those tournaments, If I’m able to constantly, week-after-week, being able to be there, this is a good sign for me’.

KAREN KHACHANOV ON HIS IMPROVED FORM IN 2022 - ‘I would say that I’m on the rise. I was playing more and more consistently in the second part of the year and I had the big run at the US Open and it feels great that all of the hard work is starting to pay off and I’m playing better and better tennis’. 

JANNIK SINNER ON THE UPS AND DOWNS OF TOUR LIFE - ‘It was a tough year for me because in many tournaments I had some little problems, I had to retire many times, but in another way in other tournaments I played many matches, played more consistent tennis with many quarter-finals and round of sixteens, so unfortunate, but in other ways I can be proud’.

GRIGOR DIMITROV ON CONTINUING TO LEARN - ‘What I want is still to improve. I’ve done thirteen off seasons so I think I know the Ins and outs pretty good, but always like to re-assess and think what is our goal this time and maybe even try some new things’.

REILLY OPELKA ON HIS MENTALITY - ‘My mentality I would say is analytical and that’s how I’ve always been wired, but it’s about finding the right balance and not being too analytical to where it becomes detrimental, but having a clear identity of who you are a tennis players I think is one of the most important things in the game’..

MARIN CILIC ON STILL BEING ABLE TO PLAY AT THE TOP - ‘I would say that in general the tennis has not run away from me. It’s just the feeling of putting everything together and generally when you watch tennis at a high level it seems quite simple and then you come to some stages where it become more difficult to put those things together, but for me I never doubted that I’d find playing good tennis’.

DAN EVANS ON WHAT HE NEEDS TO DO TO TAKE THE NEXT STEPS  - ‘I look at these tournaments differently to a lot of these top guys, I have to have a lot of things fall right, but reaching the Montreal semi-finals shows I can get to the latter stages of these tournaments if I do certain things and play the right tennis. I can improve and that’s why we’re on the practice courts each day and it’s just about tinkering’.

ANDY MURRAY ON TRYING TO FOCUS ON THE HERE AND NOW - ‘When you’ve been at the top of the game and got to number 1, that’s always where your reference point is in terms of how you’re doing, so in that respect it’s been pretty average, but at the beginning of the year I was ranked 135 in the world and now I’m in the forties, so that’s a big jump, so it’s been ok the year’.

And in the week where Nick Bollettieri passed away, we recall one of our favourite conversations with the visionary coach...

NICK BOLLETTIERI ON THE MOST TALENTED PLAYER HE EVER COACHED - ’The student that was the most talented in my sixty years of teaching was Marcelo Rios. Had the best hands and feet, but he didn’t appreciate the game, the players and didn’t sign autographs for the children, it was sad. I think he was number one for two or three weeks’.

PLUS MIOMIR KECMANOVIC IS THE FINAL PLAYER THIS YEAR TO TELL US HOW HE LIKES TO TRAVEL

- Show presented by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Lee Goodall, Ursin Caderas, Chris Bowers and Seb Lauzier

- Opelka and Kecmanovic features by ATP Uncovered

Former player Gilles Simon looks back over his career with Jill Craybas at the recent Nitto ATP Finals.

GREG RUSEDSKI ON HOW THE SPORT IS DEVELOPING - ‘It seems like players are getting a lot quicker and right now you have to be an all-rounder. You have to play defence and offence and if you want to get to the very top, you have to do all of the above’.

CARLOS MOYA ON RAFAEL NADAL’S YEAR - ’The last part of the year has not been that good but he’s won two slams this year and when you win two slams, it has to be a good year. It’s true that the first half of the year was unbelievable and we did not expect that to happen, but with Rafa, you can always expect the best from him’.

DENIS SHAPOVALOV ON HIS JUMP BACKHAND - ‘It actually comes from juniors. When I was small a lot of people would get the ball up to my backhand and I remember one practice I just got tired of going back all of the time, so I hit a couple in the air and they worked out well, so it’s just been a natural shot for me’.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA ON HIS TOUGHEST OPPONENT - ‘One who gave me a hard time was Andy Murray, he beat me so many times and it was difficult. Every time when I saw the draw I was praying to be in another part and yeah, Andy was a terrible player for me’. 

PHILIPP KOHLSCHREIBER ON LEARNING FROM BEST PLAYERS IN PRACTICE - ’They are actually most of the time very relaxed, but then they can switch it on in the crunch time, they have the full focus. So they are really good to be able to practice and enjoy, but if they feel like the crucial moment is coming, then they have another gear maybe and that’s something hard to learn, but that’s why I always tried to play with the best players in practice’.

-Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier

-Interviews by Jill Craybas, Richard Connelly & Ursin Caderas

- Denis Shapovalov Feature by ATP Uncovered

Croat Marin Cilic speaks speaks to Chris Bowers about a successful 2022 and also gives his views on the retirement of Roger Federer.

GORAN IVANIŠEVIĆ ON NOVAK DJOKOVIC - ‘He’s practising even harder than when he was at the age of 22 and that’s why he’s still so good and that’s why he’s going to be even better. The will to practice, the will to improve, the will to be better is amazing you know and he’s taking care of his body. Novak is a genius and he’s a guy who always wants to improve’.

VEDRAN MARTIC SPEAKS ABOUT ON-COURT COACHING - ‘It’s ok if you need to say something to a player, but still I believe a lot in concentration in the match, so for a player it’s better to concentrate and not look too much to the coach and expect some unbelievable advice’. 

UMBERTO RIANNA ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITALIAN TENNIS - ‘It all started a few years ago when the board of the federation decided to invest in the kids even after their junior years and that was the turning point for us. Everybody is asking me what’s the secret, but there are no secrets, just results and when the federation decided to invest, finally we decided to give resources to be able to help the kids to grow’.

FRANCES TIAFOE ON WHY LOSING IN THE US OPEN SEMI-FINAL MIGHT BE THE BEST THING THAT’S HAPPENED TO HIM - ‘It was tough because I really thought I was going to get it done but I think it was the best thing for me not to win it honestly because seeing how everyone responded and all the things I got invited to and I didn’t win it, It built that little extra hunger, so 2023 that’s the goal, to get across that line’.

PABLO CARREÑO BUSTA ON LEARNING FROM RAFAEL NADAL - ‘We were partners in the Davis Cup and I learn a lot from him, but probably the consistency and to fight until the end in every moment, that’s very important. You cannot be one hundred per cent everyday, because it’s very tough to be, but Rafa continues all the time to be his best in every moment and I think that’s the best thing from him’.

PLUS ALEX DE MINAUR TALKS ABOUT WHAT HE TAKES WITH HIM ON HIS TRAVELS

- Show presented by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Jill Craybas and Chris Bowers

- Alex De Minaur Feature by ATP Uncovered

One of the most influential coaches in tennis sits down with Jill Craybas at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin to talk about what it's been like joining Holger Rune's team and his hopes for the youngsters future.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON A NITTO ATP FINALS TITLE THAT’S BEEN WORTH THE WAIT - ‘I definitely felt nerves, but I felt grateful to be able to serve the match out. Seven years, it’s been a long time but at the same time, the fact I waited seven years makes this victory even bigger and even sweeter.

CASPER RUUD ON HIS MENTALITY - ‘I think out of twenty-four hours that we have everyday I think that you should be able to perform two of them at least and have a good focus and put all your effort into it and that’s pretty much how I think ahead of every match’.

CARLOS ALCARAZ ON INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION - ‘For me it’s really important to inspire the young people. I had role models when I was a kid and for me to show good things to the young people, it’s crazy as a guy who’s nineteen years old, but that’s what I’m trying to do’.

HOLGER RUNE ON HIS AMAZING YEAR - ‘Crazy in every way. At the beginning of the year I was ranked 103 and nw top 10. It’s amazing feeling to finish the year this way and if you had a paper I would sign it straightaway at the beginning of the year. I had a goal to finish in the top 25 and now I’m top 10 so it’s even better, so I’m super-pleased and happy’.

ANDREY RUBLEV’S PHYSIO, MARC BOADA ON HIS PLAYER’S ENDLESS ENERGY - ’He wants to be the best, so no matter the amount of hours that you tell him to do, he’s going to do everything and if he’s off he really feels the need to do more, so you need to find his balance’. 

RAJEEV RAM ON THE DEVELOPMENTS HE AND JOE SALISBURY HAVE MADE - ‘We have the same mindset which is to always try to improve something, daily, weekly, yearly whatever it is and I think something we’ve got a lot better at is just hanging in their and fighting and you’re not always going to play your best and even if someone knows you’re going to do that, that’s almost an intimidating factor in itself’.

NEAL SKUPSKI ON HIS BROTHER AND FORMER DOUBLES PARTNER KEN NOW COACHING HIM - ‘It’s been a nice addition from halfway through the year. He knows me inside and out. I’ve not been the best with having a coach around me because I find it hard to trust someone as a coach telling me what to do, but from an early age I’ve always looked up to him and I trust him’.

LLOYD GLASSPOOL & HARRI HELIOVAARA ON THEIR REMARKABLE RISE - ‘We started playing together for the first time two years ago at a challenger event in Portugal and we were working hard last year and improving our games, but this year it just started clicking and all of a sudden we’re beating the best teams in the world and it just kept going’.

GABRIELE PARAINO ON HIS EXPERIENCE AS A HITTING PARTNER IN TURIN - ‘It’s really a dream to be here and to play with these players. It’s always been my dream to be here so it’s amazing. Just how they hit the ball, it’s really amazing to see them play, to feel how they hit the ball. It’s heavier, they hit it earlier and go through the ball always and I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve seen’.

PLUS THE EIGHT SINGLES PLAYERS COME TOGETHER FOR ONE INTERVIEW, COURTESY OF THE ATP DIGITAL CHANNELS

- Podcast presenter: Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Jill Craybas, Richard Connelly and Kate Flory

- Features by ATP Uncovered

- Commentary from Mikey Perera and Lee Goodall

Coach to Brandon Nakashima and also working with the Italian Tennis Federation, Eduardo Infantino speaks to Jill Craybas about working with the young player and his coaching philosophy in general.

At the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan, Jill Craybas sits down with Mosé Navarra from the Italian Tennis Federation to discover how the country is producing so many top players.

Jiri Lehecka's coach Michal Navrátil speaks to Jill Craybas about what it's like to coach the young star as well as discussing his own coaching philosophy.

Having moved from his native New Zealand and spent the past 30 years in Britain, Chris Bowers sits down with leading sports physiotherapist Marc Bender to discuss his work across multiple sports and in-particular tennis, where he's worked with the likes of Tim Henman, Andy Murray and Seb Korda.

RAFAEL NADAL ON ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR - ‘Overall it has been an amazing year, achieving important tournaments, being in a privileged position of the ranking, I have been a father a few weeks ago, so overall an amazing year, but at the same time it has been a tough year with a lot of issues with the body, but overall, I take it’.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON PLAYING THE NITTO ATP FINALS AS A LOWER SEED - ’This is going to be the first time that I’m going to play the number one or number two seeds in the Tour finals for the first time after many years and I don’t feel like I’m as young as the other guys as it’s been a while since the first participation in the finals, but I’m motivated and looking forward to the challenge and right from the blocks I need to be focussed like I’m playing the final’.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS ON HIS MENTALITY - ‘I’m never satisfied by doing the same thing over and over again, I’m always trying to find new creative ways to perform a certain task and play in any conditions. I just need to stay as alive as possible, to stay in that moment, to slow time down. If I’m able to slow time down, then I’m able to see and predict and execute and I guess that’s what adrenaline does to you, it makes things so fast without thinking sometimes’.

CASPER RUUD ON EXCEEDING HIS EXPECTATIONS - ’This year the goal was to reach a quarter-final of a Grand Slam because I’d never done that before and then Australia came and I rolled my ankle the day before the tournament, so that hurt obviously, so when Paris came around I was looking to seek some revenge and try to seize the opportunity and I was able to do so and the final there made me realise I can make it far on the Grand Slam stages and I don’t think I would have made the final of the US Open if I hadn’t done it in Paris’.

TAYLOR FRITZ ON HIS NITTO ATP FINALS DEBUT - ‘Being American I didn’t really have anywhere to go after my early exit in Paris, so I went on a nice little three day vacation, more like a spa to get my body really good and then I’ve been here since Monday just getting ready’.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV ON REACHING WORLD NUMBER 1 IN 2022 - 'If you want to finish year-end number one you have to play good from the start to the end and now the goal is to make a better whole year. I have the possibility to earn a lot of points in the biggest tournaments in the world and I didn’t do that this year and that’s what I’m going to try to do next year’.

NEAL SKUPSKI ON MAKING HIS DEBUT IN THE DOUBLES ALONGSIDE WESLEY KOOLHOF - ‘Over the years I’ve watched it on the tv and always wanted to play. I grew up watching the Bryan brothers play here and it was amazing to watch them, but Wes has won it before, so I’m going to pick his brain as much as I can to see what he did a couple of years ago, but yeah, I’m looking forward to it’.

PLUS LLEYTON HEWITT AND DANIIL MEDVEDEV LOOK BACK ON WINNING THE NITTO ATP FINALS AND HOLGER RUNE TALKS US THROUGH WHAT HE TRAVELS WITH - FEATURES COURTESY OF ATP UNCOVERED

- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Seb Lauzier, Richard Connelly, Jill Craybas

- Doubles preview by Barry Cowan

- Lleyton Hewitt, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune features by ATP Uncovered

BRANDON NAKASHIMA ON WINNING THE NEXTGEN ATP FINALS - ‘I’m super-happy right now, it was a great feeling all week, it feels amazing, being an American, being able to play here in Milan it’s the best feeling in the world and I’m happy to be able to take it back to the US’.

EDUARDO INFANTINO ON COACHING BRANDON NAKASHIMA - ‘We’re going step-by-step at this moment and he will start to be ready, maybe in the second part of next year. He’s still 21 so for sure his best moments will be in two years time. His game needs to be better because he needs to be more aggressive, have more options to be not predictable in his game and my vision is the same vision that Sampras had, don’t be predictable’.

JIRI LEHECKA ON HIS PROGRESSION - ’This year has been all about experience for me because it was my for year in the top 100 and being able to compete against the best players in the world. Super-happy that I had a chance to compete in all four Grand Slams, to be able to play some very good matches on the ATP Tour and of course the Challenger Tour was also part of my journey this year’.

MICHAL NAVRATIL ON WORKING WITH JIRI LEHECKA - ‘For me the first priority is the heart as Kobe Bryant said. I saw the power, the stamina and of course as a nice person, because he was always the guy who came and was respectful and said hello and even if you are giving him some tips, he was always listening’.

JAMES TROTMAN ON WORKING WITH JACK DRAPER FROM A YOUNG AGE - ‘He was feisty on court, desperate to win and sometimes that would cloud his judgement, but his competitive instinct and desire to find a way through a match was incredibly impressive. He’s had a lot of injury, one year six tournaments, the next twelve, so the biggest thing we’ve monitored is his workloads and making sure we’re being smart in how we trained hi and the goal was as simple as playing twenty-five tournaments the following year’.

DOMINIC STRICKER ON PRACTICING WITH ROGER FEDERER - ‘I’ve learned a lot talking to Roger was very special and I’ve practiced with him so many times now and he told me some tips like to work on my serve, that was something he told me many times and now I’d say that my serve is pretty good’. 

BENJAMIN EBRAHIMZADEH ON DEVELOPING THE PLAYER FIRST - ‘I think as a coach you need to understand the person first and you need to understand how to talk to them, how to approach them, what is their behind their story, because their story always comes out in the pressure moments and then you need to understand what their ideal game could look like and then you need to bring these two aspects together, this is what matters the most’.

LORENZO MUSETTI ON PLAYING ON HOME SOIL - ‘I have a lot of friends and a small group, six friends who grew up together and we still live together and they are my first fans after my family and we started like a company when we were like eight or nine and we shared a lot of great memories, vacations and holidays together and they are my support for everyday, even in the bad days’.

MATTEO ARNALDI ON PLAYING IN BIG VENUES AND EXPERIENCING THE TOUR - ‘I played in Rome, my first Masters 1000 and it was so cool and I think it was the best moment of my year and afterwards I played Wimbledon and then in New York I almost got into the main draw and I think I learned to play on every surface and that was the main thing for this year’.

FRANCESCO PASSARO INTERVIEW - ‘We are lucky because we have a lot of tournaments in Italy, we have a chance to play every week in Italy and I think the boom in the amount of Italian players has been down to this I think, so I am very grateful to the Italian Federation’.

MOSE NAVARRA ON HIS ROLE DEVELOPING THE ITALIN OVER 18 PLAYERS - 'The players have everything that they need and each one of us coaches has between two to three players that we look after, plus the structure is also following other guys who are below. The Federation has been following these players since the ages of twelve, thirteen, so it’s kind of a step-by-step and we look at the ways they are developing as a person a well as a player’.

ROSS HUTCHINS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEXT GEN EVENT AND HOW IT FITS INTO THE BIGGER PICTURE - ’The whole of the tennis world is always asking about the NextGen and when they are asking about what innovations you’re doing next year in February or March and this could be Grand Slams, Masters 1000s, media, key sponsors, they are all asking about what we’re going to do and who are the next superstars that are going to play, so I think that it has a position in the game is very exciting’.

- Podcast hosted by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Jill Craybas

HOLGER RUNE ON WINNING THE ROLEX PARIS MASTERS AND BECOMING AN ALTERNATE FOR THE NITTO ATP FINALS  - ‘I’m feeling lovely to be honest, it’s the possible best feeling to be one out of Turin and if you told me this four weeks ago that I would be top ten and one alternate for the Masters Finals I’d be like, ‘what sorry?’ but now I’m there and I’m super proud and hopefully I’ll get to play’.

PATRICK MOURATOGLU ON HOLGER RUNE’S POTENTIAL - ‘I think a few guys have this potential to become Grand Slam champions and in general those guys go really fast, they climb the rankings really fast, but I guess that Holger has what it takes to become a Grand Slam Champion, he has the self-belief, an incredible determination, a love and passion for the game which is huge and he’s prepared to do what it takes, even if it’s extremely painful to achieve his goals’.

FRÉDÉRIC FONTANG ON FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME’S ANIMATED DEMEANOUR - ‘It was something that we were feeling was important for Felix because he’s an aggressive player, he’s athletic and when he shows this athleticism on the court it’s very positive because it’s going to match with his game, going forward, going to the net, so that’s why he needs to show lots of emotion’.

GILLES SIMON ON THE REASON FOR RETIRING - ‘It was just my life, always wanting to be a tennis player since I was six years old and first watching tennis was here in this stadium and in my head I’m still a tennis player, but it’s just that I’m not able to play anymore, it’s too painful and I’m not at the level, the guys are too young, too strong, so that’s why I stop, I’m not able to compete at this level anymore, but I’m also very happy now that I’ve stopped to enjoy other things and first priority is the family’.

JEREMY CHARDY ON TRYING OUT COACHING WHILST INJURED - ‘It’s really different because when you are playing it’s more about the feeling, the next point, the next match and when you are a coach you have to think about the preparation, the goal for the game, how to improve and for sure you want to win the next match, but you have to build the game for the next match, the next month. Since I’m coaching I watch video all the time, video of the best guys and I’m much more into tennis now than when I’m playing’.

LORENZO MUSETTI ON TAKING INSPIRATION FROM HIS GRANDFATHER - ‘I take a lot of inspiration from him. He was an honest man with great values and I’m trying to be as him because he tried to transfer to me all the passion he had for his work, for life, for his family and I’m trying to be like him in these kind of feelings and I think these things are helping me a lot, because having a balance in your head when you are under stress, for sure it helps you for what you really want’.

JACK DRAPER ON THE REASON FOR HIS RISE UP THE RANKINGS - ’The main thing for me is to stay injury free. The last few years I’ve been constantly injured, so getting that consistency this year of being on court more and having more trust in my body when competing is the main thing. Obviously there is still a long way to go, but I’ve always known that my tennis has been good enough, it’s just about staying on court and it’s about working smarter, not harder’.

DOMINIC STRICKER’S COACH SVEN SWINNEN ON THE YOUNGSTER'S SURPRISE PROGRESSION - ‘I think he has great potential and I’m sure he will soon crack the top 100. It was great that we were able to give him a wildcard into a Challenger in Switzerland and it was great that he came from nowhere to winning it and made a lot of points and moved up the rankings quickly. I think for his height he’s working pretty well and working well on his serve and I like to keep the focus on his strengths and not his weaknesses, but we try to keep mixing up the serve a little bit that he becomes really unpredictable on his service games’.

PLUS DAVID NALBANDIAN FEATURE ON WINNING THE 2005 NITTO ATP FINALS

- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Seb Lauzier, Jill Craybas and Chris Bowers

- David Nalbandian feature by ATP Uncovered

- Rolex Paris Masters commentary by Lee Goodall

French star Jeremy Chardy speaks to Jill Craybas about returing to the game after a long time out with injury and what he's learnt coaching fellow countryman, Ugo Humbert.

Jill Craybas sits down with former French player Sébastien Grosjean in Paris to talk about his career, tennis in France and how the modern game differs to when he played.

Jill Craybas sits down with the coach of Felix Auger-Aliassime to find out what's made it possible for the young Canadian to go on an unbelievable winning streak.

Former professional Cédric Pioline speaks to Seb Lauzier about his role as Tournament Director of the Rolex Paris Masters and the future of tennis in France.

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME & DANIIL MEDVEDEV REFLECT ON THEIR TITLES IN BASEL AND VIENNA

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME ON STAYING FOCUSSED - ‘I am keeping an eye on the race and this is of course a big motivation to keep trying until the end, but at the end, once you’re on the court I don’t really think about anything apart from the match happening. I think that’s what’s been helping me to, whenever I feel I’m in the moment and playing good tennis, time stops and all that matters is the opponent in front of me’.

TAYLOR FRITZ ON HAVING AN OUTSIDE CHANCE OF QUALIFYING FOR TURIN - ’One of my goals for the year was top ten, but the main focus is now the race. It would be incredible to make it to Turin, that’s a huge goal and It would be a huge honour to be part of that so I’m going to have to just bring it’. 

DOMINIC STRICKER ON STARTING TO BELIVE HE BELONGS AT THE TOP - ’It all went very, very quick after winning the French Open Juniors. It’s not luck, I’ve got the level and I think I belong here, I’ve won three Challengers that has helped me get up the levels and I’ve beaten some good players, so that’s really good to see’.

GILLES SIMON ON RETIREMENT AND HIS FINAL TOURNAMENT IN PARIS - ‘It’s sad because tennis is my life and I just feel it’s too difficult now and I feel it’s sad when you have to admit it, so it’s sad right now but I just thought I’d focus on what I know and prepare a match and try to be as ready as possible for the first round’.

PLUS ANDY MURRAY LOOKS BACK ON HIS NITTO ATP FINALS TITLE IN 2016, COURTESY OF ATP UNCOVERED

- Show presented by Seb Lauzier

- Podcast guest Jill Craybas

- Interviews by Ursin Caderas, Lee Goodall, Chris Bowers and Seb Lauzier

- Andy Murray feature by ATP Uncovered

Chris Bowers speaks to young British player Jack Draper about qualifying for the end of season Under 21 event, his season as a whole and the developments he's made.

CARLOS ALCARAZ ON HIS REMAINING GOALS FOR THE SEASON - ‘I think I said at the beginning of the year that my goal was to end between the first fifteen players, but I never felt I was going to be number one this soon. I feel the same guy, the same player, for me nothing changed but I want to end the year as number one, I have some good tournaments ahead and I want to do the best of myself in those tournaments and to end the year as number one’.

CASPER RUUD ON QUALIFYING FOR BACK-TO-BACK NITTO ATP FINALS - ‘It feels great. Last year was a crazy race towards the end there with four players racing for the last two spots and it came down to Paris, one of the last weeks of the year, but this year I’ve been able to reach it already and that’s a very, very nice feeling’.

HUBERT HURKACZ ON HIS DESIRE TO QUALIFY FOR TURIN AGAIN - ’That would be something amazing to play there again, to play in front of such a great crowd in Turin. It was something I was always dreaming of as a kid, eight people qualifying for the final and that was great so it would be something special to play there again’.

HENRI LAAKSONEN ON HIS MENTALITY - ‘It takes time to learn who you really are and I still feel there are a few things I can do to improve in my tennis. Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have been in front of me and It’s great for Switzerland to have such great players and I could learn a lot when they are practicing and playing matches, watching what they are doing and it was great for me to learn from the best’.

DAVID GOFFIN ON WHAT HE’S LEARNT OVER HIS CAREER - ‘When you get older you just realise how tough it is. It’s tougher physically and when you’re over thirty you start to feel pain that you’ve never felt before and all of sudden you realise what you just did before is now tough, so you just have to enjoy differently when you’re older’.

SEBASTIAN KORDA ON USING 3D GLASSES TO IMPROVE HIS REACTION TIME - ‘I do that six days a week, just kind of fifteen minutes at night or during the day. You have eight balls and you have to track four of them as they bounce around at different speeds so I’ve been doing that for the last year of so to get my eyes better and I feel it’s really helped me with my speed on court and just using my brain a little better’.

PLUS ATP UNCOVERED SPEAK TO BOTH STAN WAWRINKA AND DOMINIC THIEM

- Show presented by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Ursin Caderas, Lee Goodall, Jill Craybas and Kate Flory

- Laaksonen, Wawrinka and Thiem features by ATP Uncovered

Roger Federer's former coach Ivan Ljubicic speaks to Chris Bowers about his new role with the French Tennis Federation and also discusses the state of the modern game and how it compares to the past.

ALEJANDRO DAVIDOVICH FOKINA ON WHY HE HAS A TATTOO OF A TSUNAMI  - ‘My mentality it like wherever I go I have to erase it, but my coach says I’m more like a volcano because he knows I have a lot of energy inside of me and I don’t know how to control that energy, but now I’m learning to focus on just one point and that’s it’.

WOLFGANG OSWALD ON DEVELOPING TAYLOR FRITZ’S PHYSIQUE - ‘He’s become a lot stronger and that has helped his movement and he’s more resilient. He has a hyper-mobile body, so he’s very flexible, so those type of athletes need more stability and strength, so that’s where we focus. It’s hard to do it all as once as a tennis player because you still have to practice on court, so you kind of have to trickle things in over a few years’.

TOMMY PAUL ON HIS MENTALITY - ‘I’d say the biggest thing for me to overcome is a lapse of focus, just staying locked in and that’s been the biggest thing for a while. I mean anytime you’re playing on centre court or a night session or somewhere where there’s a packed crowd, the pressure rises, but it’s also more fun and I feel that all of the matches that are the most fun, come with the most pressure. As they say, pressure is a privilege’.

SEBASTIAN BAEZ ON 2022 AS A BREAKTHROUGH YEAR - ‘I’ve tried to be better at the little things, on the court, outside the court, with the recovery. For example, if you have physical training at eight in the morning I want to be there at seven fifty. You control your body, your things and your team of course. All the best players are a little bit crazy with these things, to try to do everything a little bit more perfect than yesterday and I think that’s the difference to the other players’.

ALEXANDER RITSCHARD ON NEARLY LOSING HIS ARM - ‘It was a very strange situation, I was in the gym working out and then I felt a sting in my shoulder and then it turned out to be a huge deal where my artery clogged up and no more blood flowed to my arm. I can only go by what they told me, but they said that they had to make a decision in the next five minutes and the artery was not opening and then I guess I got lucky and it opened and the blood started flowing again and they were able to make sure that my arm received blood’. 

PLUS DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN TAKES A QUIZ ON HIS OWN CAREER AND MATTEO BERRETTINI LOOKS BACK ON HIS RUN TO THE 2021 NITTO ATP FINALS 

- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Ursin Caderas, Candy Reid, Jill Craybas and Chris Bowers

- Tommy Paul, Diego Schwartzman and Matteo Berrettini features by ATP Uncovered

Dipping into the ATP Podcast archives, Richard Connelly sat down with former Austrian player Jurgen Melzer to look back over a career which involved singles and doubles at the very highest level.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON HIS DESIRE TO KEEP WINNING - ‘My intention was always to reach the highest heights in our sport and I’m just grateful and blessed to play this well at this stage of my life. 35 is not the same as 25 but I think the experience in these matches and big occasions helps to approach mentally these kind of matches and I’m super-pumped to end the season as well as I have these past couple of weeks’.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV ON HIS DESIRE TO KEEP GROUNDED - ‘I would like to think that it doesn’t influence me at all, but maybe if you as those around me they will say that I’ve changed a little, so I try to do things I love to do, on court and off, I try to be real to myself which sometimes can be not easy for other people, because like everything in life there are going to be people that like what you do and some that don’t’.

ANDREY RUBLEV ON HOW HE LOOKING TO BECOME MENTALLY RESILIENT - ‘My weakness is mental, but hopefully there will be some improvements in this. I have a good game to be on the next level, but I am the one who stops myself from this because I’m always emotional and for me it’s important not to let the bad emotions take the lead’.

JUNCHENG SHANG ON WHY HIS ENGLISH NAME IS JERRY - ‘Jerry was, well my parents picked it, the show Tom and Jerry has been around for a long time and I’d say that was my favourite show and I think my parents would like me to be as smart as the mouse Jerry’.

TAYLOR FRITZ ON WINNING IN TOKYO - ‘Crazy, I don’t think it’s really set in just how fast the past four or five days has been and this is exactly what I needed for the race, for my ranking, kind of put me in a good position for the rest of the year, so it’s amazing’. 

FRANCES TIAFOE ON WHAT HE’S LEARNT SINCE HIS DEEP RUN AT THE US OPEN - ‘I think I’ve learned that you always have more in the tank then you think you do and I’ve also learnt that I can play against great guys day-in-day out. Beating Rafael Nadal at the US Open was great, but playing the way I did against Andrey Rublev afterwards was a big growth for me, that was bigger then beating Rafa’.

BORNA CORIC MEMORIES OF BEATING ROGER FEDERER ON GRASS - ‘I was watching him on tv and hoping I could play against him one day, that was my big goal. He was one of the main reasons why I played tennis and beating him in Halle in 2018 was the most special tournament of my whole career. Just getting to the final and playing Roger was already enough, but I played really, really good tennis and it was just something amazing for me’.

ALEJANDRO DAVIDOVICH FOKINA ON WHY HE WEARS ODD SOCKS - ‘Odd socks, well since fifteen years old I wear odd socks, one black and one white and you know it’s like a superstition, I can’t go on court without different socks and it all started to be different, to not wear something that other people were wearing’. 

- Show presented by Seb Lauzier

- Interviews by Ursin Caderas, Lee Goodall, Mike Cation & Kate Flory

- Juncheng Shang & Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Features by ATP Uncovered