Episodes

Simon Dickson was one of the best junior players in the world with wins over Roger Federer and Leyton Hewitt to name a couple as he grew up. He combined this with playing football for Manchester United Juniors when he was younger. Yet his highest ATP ranking was 469. We explore why? Does he regret it? What has he learned? And what is he now passing onto the juniors he works with at Edgbaston Priory Club? Simon is one of the nicest, most humble men you will ever meet and it is a treat to di...

Steve Hewitt is the CEO of Gym Shark, a fitness clothing and accessory brand that is currently one of the fastest growing businesses in the UK. A few weeks ago it was valued at $1.3 billion from the humble beginnings of the founder, Ben Francis home with his Mums sewing machine. We discuss the transferable skills from sport to business and the importance of culture in any business. Steve is also a ‘tennis parent’ and we explore this side of his life and where his business lessons have helped....

Heather Watson has been one of Great Britain’s most successful female tennis players of the last 30 years. She won the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title in 2016, has won 4 WTA titles and has a career high of 38 in the world. Heather moved from her home island of Guernsey aged 11 to go to Florida and we learn all about that journey of dedicating her life to tennis and whether she has been ‘successful’ in her career. Heather gives fascinating insight and shares her story so well. Enjoy

Valorie Kondos Field was Head Gymnastics Coach at UCLA for 29 years. She led them to 7 National Championships and her background wasn’t even in gymnastics. She dramatically changed her philosophies throughout her coaching career. Find out why in this episode. Valorie has since gone on to deliver TED Talks with her philosophy of ‘Winning doesn’t always equal success’. Her inspiration has come from meetings with the late Kobe Bryant, her mentor John Wooden and listening to her team, some of who...

Emilio Sanchez comes from the famous Sanchez family who have been so influential on Spanish Tennis. A former World number 1 doubles player and number 7 singles player at the same time, he won 5 Grand slam doubles titles and the men´s doubles silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. Emilio is the brother of Arantcha Sanchez Vicario and later in his career, her coach. After retiring, Emilio captained Spain to Davis Cup victory in 2008. He also joined forces with Sergio Casal to set up the Sanche...

We speak to Anthony Harris who is top 100 ATP Player Lloyd Harris’s coach. Anthony also coached Dudi Sela in his formative years aged 11-19. We discuss his Academy and philosophy in South Africa and the journey to creating an African Champion. Halfway through the pod Lloyd Harris joins us for 15 mins to offer his amazing insight, enjoy this episode!

Sam Jalloh was brought up in Sierra Leone in what was a difficult upbringing personally, but also during the civil war which added many complications which included living on the streets, seeing his best friend get shot and killed and being taken from his family aged 5. So how did this young boy who didn’t own shoes until he was 14-years-old manage to get to the point of playing on the ITF circuit, hitting with Andrey Rublev and many more? It is a fascinating, inspirational story we all ha...

Magnus Tideman is a former top 80 ATP Player who came from an amazing crop of Swedish Players, where his practice partners included Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and many more. He turned his hand to coaching 29 years ago and has spent most of that at the top end of the ATP Tour, including coaching Thomas Johansson to the 2002 Australian Open Title. Magnus shares opinions, insights and stories. A brilliant listen!

Mark has had tennis running through his life for 60 years. He was in the military, and has worked closely with David Lloyd and Jimmy Connors on previous projects. He´s currently taking on his biggest challenge yet, as he is looking to bring the private sector of tennis together postcode by postcode. We discuss his reasons and drive behind this, and the similarities with the PTPA movement with Novak Djokovic and where this is going in the future. A great passionate listen. Mark is running t...

Kieron Vorster has been a strength and conditioning coach on the ATP Tour for 25 years. He started his career with Wayne Ferreira before spending many years with Tim Henman. Kieron is currently working with British number 1 Dan Evans. We talk through nature vs nature, hard work vs sport science. How Dan has prepared for the US Open and much more. Twitter: @vossy1973

Cameron Norrie has an illustrious College career at Texas Christian University before seamlessly moving into the top 100 ATP. Since recording, he has reached a career high of 12, and is the current British number 1. In this episode, Cameron speaks to us from the US Open bubble where we discuss positive COVID tests and PTPA movements with Novak Djokovic spearheading a new player association. Read the full shownotes here. Links & Resources Control the Controllables: Instagram|Website|Ema...

Nick Monroe has been on the ATP Tour for the last 17 years with a career high of 30 ATP doubles. Nick speaks to us from the US Open Bubble as he prepares to play next week. Nick was a top USTA Junior, US College All-American and 17 years as a pro. Fascinating insights and told with such humility. Enjoy

Nick Morgan is a former UK University Tennis Champion whilst graduating from Bath University before turning his career to the Sports Science world. This started at Lilleshall home of England Football and took him around many British Football Clubs as well as Masters Series Events on the Tennis Tour. He now runs his own commercial nutritional company and consults for big brands globally. All through the vehicle of tennis. We discuss and compare two main topics, Nutrition and Data. A highly educat...

Jonathan worked for BBC radio for over 25 years and brought the famous moments to life for many of us including his final match for the BBC.. The Men’s Wimbledon 2013 final where Andy Murray overcame 77 years of hurt for Men’s tennis in Britain. His voice is silk, his stories are full of passion and his ability to paint the picture is sublime. We loved bringing this pod together and we know you will love listening to Jonathan. Enjoy

Dan Evans and Mark Hilton speak to us from New York as they prepare for the US Open 2020. Hear all about the ‘bubble’ at the US Open and how preparation has been going.

James Cluskey was top 150 ATP and represented Ireland in Davis Cup. He has used his tennis as a vehicle to attack the business world. He is Sir Richard Branson’s private’s tennis coach and he has leveraged this and more to move forward in the business world. A fascinating story and so many learnings for us all. Enjoy

Bruno and Juan both have extensive experience of being brought up through the ‘Spanish System’ as players and coaches. Yet both have had experience in the British Tennis world as players at Stirling University. Bruno is now a National Coach at the National Academy in Stirling, UK and Juan runs his own Academy in Sevilla, Spain. We explore the differences, positives, negatives of both tennis cultures including characters, tournament structure, climate and much more....

Dan spent many years in the top 5 in the UK and top 250 ATP after a successful junior career including making final of the prestigious Tarbes U14 event. Dan retired aged 26 back in 2016, but as the pandemic has had an effect on us all, it has got Dan motivated to give it another go on the tour. Hear about all the ups and downs that go into these careers and the insights into why decisions like this are made. A great listen

Neil Harman worked tirelessly for many years for many of the top UK Newspapers in football, and then mainly as a tennis correspondent. An award-winning journalist and author, Neil connected with the top players such as Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka . Neil´s world fell apart in 2014 when he was sacked by The Times for plagiarism of the Wimbledon Annual which he had written for 10 years. A fantastic story of ups and downs with honest and insightful reflections from Neil. A great listen. B...

Barry Fulcher was an excellent tennis player who has turned his passion to not only coaching, but also to creating a competitive structure in the UK that allows players to compete, learn and earn. This passion has been solely driven by Barry and his own bank balance. It finally got the recognition the Progress Tour deserves as he ran the top ladies event in the UK last week which attracted all of the GBs top female players. This is only the start of his journey, as he continues to juggle his coa...

Michael Joyce had a very successful playing career with a career high of 64 ATP. Michael has gone on to coach some of the biggest stars in the women’s game including Victoria Azarenka, Genie Bouchard, Johanna Konta, Timea Babos and most notably Maria Sharapova. The American worked with Sharapova for 7 years, winning 3 Grand Slams together. In this episode of Control the Controllables, Michael gives us fascinating insights into his role as a coach, from contracts to training. It´s a must li...

Mark Bullock has dedicated his coaching career to making tennis inclusive to all. He spent many years at ITF working and developing wheelchair tennis globally including its presence at all 4 of the Grand Slams. Over the last few years he has turned his attention to visually impaired tennis and other sports where he continues to innovate and inspire. A great listen and so many lessons for us all to learn.

Mike Dickson is the UK Daily Mail´s Tennis Correspondent. He has been a sports journalist for more than 35 years, predominantly covering tennis as his major sport during this time. He´s one of the most respected and admired journalists in tennis, and is very close to British Tennis, reporting on all its successes and failures. Mike shares many stories and insights from the world of Sports Journalism during this episode, which makes it a great listen. Links mentioned in this episode:-...

James McGee is a former Irish Davis Cup Player and number one. Reached the top 150 ATP including qualifying at the 2014 US Open in dramatic circumstances, listen out for that. Shares his insights into the tour, Irish Tennis, his mental battles and how he now put all of those learnings to great use. A great listen