The Tennis Podcast

We take listener questions on a range of topics, including what can be done to make tennis behind closed doors more enjoyable, Innes Ibbou’s rebuttal to Dominic Thiem’s comments about lower ranked players, results from the past that we’d like to change, the best and worst coaching appointments, and whether doubles should be made more prominent.The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners each December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, isolation diaries and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED *Our Tennis Re-Lived series will return on May 18th when we look back on past editions of Rome. We will be watching Federer and Nadal’s classic from 2006 on Tennis TV and talking about Gabriela Sabatini’s dominant run there, highlighted by her 1992 final against Mo

Catherine, David and Matt return with another episode of Tennis Re-Lived, this time looking back on a couple of classic finals and storylines from Madrid.In 2012, the clay turned blue, and Janko Tipsarevic explains what it was really like to play on, who it favoured, how it affected Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, why it was ditched, and the reason it was slippery.Plus, in what way was the final a microcosm of Tomas Berdych’s career? And how did Federer find his feet when others struggled?The 2014 women’s final between Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep turned out to be a prelude of the Roland Garros final that year, serving as an indication of Sharapova’s progress on clay. What was behind her mid-career transformation on the surface? Sven Groeneveld, her coach at the time, tells us.The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the three best male players of all time, but they haven’t always been so great...In the final episode of our ‘worst of’ series (for now), we reflect on those rare moments when they struggled on court, including their respective slumps in 2013, 2015 and 2017.Plus, what happened to Federer at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics? How did he lose to Guillermo Cañas in back-to-back tournaments in 2007? Why did Nadal’s Wimbledon results go downhill from 2012 onwards? How much does it matter that he’s never won the ATP Finals? Why did Djokovic retire from so many matches early in his career? And what on earth was going on with his serve under Todd Martin?The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, isolation diaries and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and

Our countdown of the Top 10 worst Grand Slam finals of all time, including a weekend of double disappointment in 1983, the only 6-0 6-0 in Open Era history, a couple of Wimbledon finals which prompted change, and a controversial mid-match retirement.‘Worst of’ fortnight will conclude on Thursday when we discuss the low points in the careers of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, isolation diaries and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED *Our Tennis Re-Lived series will return on May 11th when we look back on two classic finals from Madrid. We will also be doing daily editions during the original Roland Garros and Wimbledon dates.* EMAIL *We hop

If you enjoyed part one of our worst ever predictions podcast, then you’re going to love part two.Our self-imposed humiliation intensifies as we re-play a couple of clips to make Catherine cringe, go deep on David’s wildly changeable views on Nick Kyrgios, and laugh at Matt picking Victoria Kuzmova to do big things.Plus, in a segment on our wildly inaccurate ranking projections, find out which player, who has never been ranked inside the Top 100, David thought would be Top 20 by 2020.‘Worst of’ fortnight will continue on Monday when we rank the worst Grand Slam finals of all time. The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, isolation diaries and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED *Our Tennis Re-Li

This week we are venturing nervously into the archives to dissect and discuss our worst ever predictions.Part one includes a couple of clangers involving Serena Williams, examples of our overly optimistic outlook on Grigor Dimitrov, and jinxing the big Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal match that everyone wanted to see at the US Open.The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, isolation diaries and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED *Our Tennis Re-Lived series will return in May when we look back on classic finals from Madrid and Rome. We will also be doing daily editions during the original Roland Garros and Wimbledon dates.* EMAIL *We hope that the podcast helps to provide some form of escape during the

Catherine speaks to former world No.3 and 22-time Grand Slam doubles champion Pam Shriver, covering the start of her partnership with Martina Navratilova and their many successes together, her memories of the historic 1986 Fed Cup Final, her gold medal winning run with Zina Garrison in Seoul, what it was like to reach the US Open final as a 16-year-old, and her thoughts on when tennis might return.The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, isolation diaries and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED *Our Tennis Re-Lived series will return in May when we look back on classic finals from Madrid and Rome. We will also be doing daily editions during the original Roland Garros and Wimbledon dates.* EMAIL *We h

We hadn’t planned to record a podcast today, but then Roger Federer tweeted about merging the ATP and WTA, and we were suddenly in emergency podcast territory.Why has it taken until now, during a global pandemic and 50 years after Billie Jean King first proposed the idea, for some of the top men to get behind it? How likely is it to actually happen? And what are the potential stumbling blocks?In the second half of the show, David speaks to John Millman about his life without tennis, the need to support lower-ranked players financially during the coronavirus pandemic, his career-defining matches against Roger Federer, and, of course, his credentials to make it onto The Tennis Podcast boat.The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, isolation diaries and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly

The second instalment of Tennis Re-Lived sees us travel back to the 1980s and 90s.First, we tell the story of Martina Navratilova’s return to her homeland in 1986 when she represented the USA against Czechoslovakia in the Fed Cup Final. Why was this such an important moment in her life? How was she received by the people in Prague? And just how good was her tennis in the decisive match against Hana Mandlikova?Matt unearths some stories from the week and Catherine speaks to Pam Shriver, Navratilova’s doubles partner, for a firsthand account. Pam describes the experience of being there and explains how Navratilova managed to control her emotions.Then, we delve into David’s well of memories to cover Thomas Muster’s epic comeback victory against Boris Becker in the 1995 Monte Carlo Final. There’s chat about Muster’s dominance on clay during that period, his semi-final against Andrea Gaudenzi which left him hospitalised, and Becker’s controversial post match press conference in which he cast doubt over Muster’s me

We’re back with another Q&A edition of The Tennis Podcast, answering listener questions about our dream tennis dinner party, the Grand Slam credentials of Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios, how long the unity between the ATP and the WTA might last, and whether it’s okay to support Tennys Sandgren despite his past Twitter support for the far right.Plus, an update on the cancellation of Montreal, a chat about the tennis players we most resemble, and a massive argument. ­­­The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED*The next episode of Tennis Re-Lived will drop on Monday 20th April as we look back on the 1986 Fed Cup Final between the USA and Czechoslov

In a Q&A edition which goes off in various directions, we cover topics such as the players we wish we had seen live, the downsides of the Big 3 dominance, how the prolonged break to tennis might affect certain players differently, whether or not Nick Kyrgios is on the boat, and our predictions from the start of the year about what we *thought* would happen in 2020.The Tennis Podcast is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law, featuring Matt Roberts. It is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED*The next episode of Tennis Re-Lived will drop on Monday 20th April as we look back on memorable Fed Cup and Monte Carlo finals.* EMAIL *We hope that the podcast helps to provide some form of escape during these challenging times. If you ever fee

Catherine Whitaker and David Law set out to examine the way in which covid-19 is impacting tennis players and events. Hear from World No.211 Liam Broady on how he’s coping without tennis as well as the physical, mental and financial challenges he’s facing, LTA chief executive Scott Lloyd on the support package provided to British tennis players, World No.375 Sofia Shapatava on her petition seeking financial assistance from the ITF, and Queen’s tournament director Stephen Farrow on what goes on behind the scenes when a tennis event is cancelled.   Plus, what have the sport’s governing bodies said in their latest statements? And could the US Open take place without fans? The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED*The n

To launch Tennis Re-Lived, Catherine, David and Matt look back on two classic Miami finals, starting with the first ever final between the Williams sisters in 1999. What was most noticeable about Venus and Serena’s respective games and personalities at the time? How was women’s tennis talked about in this era? And in what way was Richard Williams front and centre? Turning to Murray and Ferrer’s epic in 2013, how did the match become so dramatic after a ropey start? Has there been a more shocking sight in tennis in recent memory than Ferrer cramping? And in what way did this match set the tone for their seasons? The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED*The next episode of Tennis Re-Lived will drop in two weeks as we look

We knew it was coming, and yet it still felt shocking, and it still hurt. After Wimbledon announced its 134th edition would not take place, and the rest of the grass court season was abandoned because of the Coronavirus, Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts were joined on The Tennis Podcast by Simon Briggs, the Tennis Correspondent of The Telegraph. Was there any alternative? What sort of impact will the cancellations have on the tennis world, and those working within it? And when can the sport realistically return?The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED* In the absence of live tennis, we will be watching classic matches together over the next few months and recording podcasts immediately afterwards with our

We begin this week’s show by discussing the one-year postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and launching Tennis Re-Lived. That's followed by part two of our Q&A with Mary Carillo as she talks more about her own career – including her memories of the French Open mixed doubles title she won with John McEnroe and the worst match she’s ever commentated on.The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* TENNIS RE-LIVED* In the absence of live tennis, we will be watching classic matches together over the next few months and recording podcasts immediately afterwards with our reaction, research and reminiscences. The first episode will be out on Monday 6th April when we will be discussing two classic Miami finals: Venus vs Serena from 1999 and Murray vs Ferre

Mary Carillo joins Catherine, David and Matt from Florida to catch up and answer some listener questions.In part one, she talks about how the enforced break due to Coronavirus could affect different players, whether a champion's mentality can be learned, and how Coco Gauff's career might unfold compared to other teenage stars.The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* EMAIL * We hope that the podcast helps to provide some form of escape during these challenging times. If you ever feel like writing to us, our e-mail is open – info@tennispodcast.net* REDDIT *We have a sub-reddit page! It's a growing online community where more than 800 listeners chat about the show and all things tennis. Join in - https://www.reddit.com/r/thetennispodcast/ 

The French Open in…September?Catherine, David and Matt are back for a bonus mid-week pod to discuss all the fallout from Roland Garros going rogue in the wake of Coronavirus and re-positioning itself in the calendar for this year.What are the political implications of such a move? Will this actually bring tennis’ fractious governing bodies together? Could it lead to long-term change? And what’s the likelihood of it going ahead like this?There’s also news of David’s AMA on Reddit, Matt quotes Star Wars, and Catherine provides important updates on bra wearing, suitcase unpacking, and karaoke.The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* EMAIL * We hope that the podcast helps to provide some form of escape during these challenging times. If you ever fee

Catherine, David and Matt talk about the dramatic developments since Indian Wells’ cancellation, the absence and importance of sport in our lives, the impact this break could have when tennis eventually returns, and which players they would choose to self-isolate with.  Plus, Dan Evans and Bethanie Mattek-Sands give insight into what it was like on site at Indian Wells last week, the communication they’ve had from the tours about Coronavirus, how this suspension will impact players, and what they’re doing to balance unexpected free time with training.The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* REDDIT *We have a sub-reddit page! It's a growing online community where more than 700 listeners chat about the show and all things tennis. Join in

Catherine was supposed to be flying to Indian Wells today, but instead she’s chatting to David and Matt all about the fact that the tournament has been cancelled because of Coronavirus. Discussion includes what to make of the decision, how it affects livelihoods in tennis, and the way the situation could potentially escalate to affect more tournaments,The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* REDDIT *We have a sub-reddit page! It's a growing online community where more than 700 listeners chat about the show and all things tennis. Join in - https://www.reddit.com/r/thetennispodcast/ * SOCIAL MEDIA *Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thetennispodcast/Twitter - https://www.instagram.com/thetennispodcast/  See acast.c

Catherine, David and Matt are together again to review another busy week in the packed February schedule, one which saw Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal seamlessly return to the tour and win titles, Heather Watson and Dan Evans impress, and the emergence of more teenage stars. What's changed in 2020 for Djokovic to be able to dominate the tour once again? Was it appropriate for Tsitsipas' mum to attend his press conference in Dubai and what does it say about their relationship? And what did we learn about Leylah Fernandez and Thiago Seyboth Wild?The Tennis Podcast is produced weekly year-round, and daily during the Grand Slam tournaments. It is crowdfunded by listeners every December.* NEWSLETTER *Sign up to get our news, predictions and Matt’s Stat. Daily at the Grand Slams and weekly throughout the rest of the year - http://eepurl.com/gbmzRX* REDDIT *We have a sub-reddit page! It's a growing online community where more than 700 listeners chat about the show and all things tennis. Join in - https://