Functional Tennis Podcast

This week on the podcast, I meet one of the top juniors from 2022 who has just recently turned pro - Jakub Mensik. In our conversation, Jakub tells us all about his famous 2022 Australian Open boys' singles final and what is was like to train with Novak Djokovic. I also ask Jakub about how he’s dealing with all the media attention and what the jump…

This week on Functional Tennis, I meet Dr. Dario Novak. In our conversation, Dario details what Donna Vekić and Borna Coric were like as juniors. I ask Dario about his work with Stan Wawrinka and Elena Rybakina. We also speak extensively about Dario’s research into what makes a tennis great. Hope you enjoy it, Fabio Have you seen the Functional Ten…

This week on the podcast, I meet Belgian coach Olivier Grignard. In our conversation, Olivier tells me how his tennis story began. Olivier also tells me about his coaching role in china, we discuss some of the cultural differences between juniors in Europe and juniors in Asia, and much much more. Hope you enjoy it Fabio Carlos Rodriguez episode: ht…

This week on the podcast, I meet the current Lead National Coach with USTA Player Development - Johnny Parkes. In our conversation, Johnny explains why playing a young Nikoloz Basilashvili was a bit of a reality check. We also talk about Johnny’s role in the US setup, and what his biggest challenge was in his early coaching days. Hope you enjoy it …

This week on Functional Tennis, I meet former Northern Ireland player and now coach - Peter Bothwell. Peter was the first man from Northern Ireland to have an ATP world ranking in singles or doubles. He played in the Irish Davis Cup and he also won the Irish Open in 2018. In our conversation, Peter tells me about how his journey in tennis began, he…

This week on Functional Tennis, I meet legendary coach - Rick Macci for a fantastic chat. In our conversation, Rick details his experience training Venus and Serena Williams when they were kids. Rick also shares the moment he was told they were making the film about the Williams sisters and their father King Richard - and what he felt like being po…

This week on Functional Tennis, I meet the former world no.3, Ivan Ljubičić. In our chat, Ivan opens up about the challenging circumstances he experienced growing up and how this lead to his tennis career, Ivan also tells me about the amazing academy he started in Losinj, Croatia, and what its like to coach Roger Federer. Hope you enjoy it Fabio Ha…

On today’s episode, I meet online with Bill Eckstrom - CEO and founder of Ecsell Institute, the parent company of Ecsell Sports. In our chat, we discuss Bill fascinating new TedX Talk: “A New Way To Win: Re-defining the Student-Athlete Experience,” that puts forward the idea that the key to developing elite teams, in both sport & beyond, may be mor…

This week on Functional Tennis, I meet physical therapist and now founder of Tennis Tour Agency - Matteo Tinelli. Matteo was ATP-ranked back in 2017 and has since moved on into becoming a therapist for players and starting the Tennis Tour Agency. The TTA is an organisation that wants to make tennis more financially accessible for young players, and…

On this week’s episode, I meet Michael Logarzo to discuss the art of coaching with Michael Logarzo. Michael is a top tennis coach based in Australia and has worked with a range of players from juniors just beginning their tennis journey - to established tennis professionals like Zoe Hives. In our conversation, Michael explains why one of the keys t…

This week on the Functional Tennis Podcast, I meet three top tennis pros at the ASICS event in Marbella. In the podcast I speak with WTA Top 60 Player Jasmine Paolini, British number 2 and WTA top 100 Harriot Dart, and I also meet 17-year-old Croatian tennis player Petra Marcinko. In my three chats, I ask all of them about the greatest challenge th…

Hi, I'm Fabio and I'm happy to announce new episodes of the Functional Tennis podcast with a slightly new format. I will continue to chat with the biggest hitters in tennis about the game but now I'll also be spotlighting how we all can get 1% better everyday! On the 17th of January, I'm serving you two episodes: An ASICS special recorded in Marbel…

This week I do a deep dive into mental training and virtual reality with a new tool on the market called Sense Arena. We are also giving away a Sense Arena Kit and you can get the details here. I speak to 2 Sense Arena Ambassadors Pavel Vizner (Former ATP doubles no.5) and Beau Treyz (ATP Coach) as well Yannick Yoshizawa. We chat about mental train…

We are back with Irish player Conor Gannon this week in the 3rd part of our mini-series with him while he is on his College Tennis Journey at the University of Memphis. We have a general catchup with a chat about Davis Cup, adjusting to college life, improvements, mental work and the plan for the rest of the year. To listen to our previous episodes…

This week we have our 2022 Functional Tennis Racket of the Year and who better to get on the show than Jonas Eriksson aka The Tennis Nerd. Jonas is the main man for info on rackets and strings. We discuss the lineup of rackets and he gives his thoughts on all the models. Also head over to our Instagram account to get voting and you can see the full…

This week I chat with Fred Gil, the former Portuguese number1 and career-high ATP 61 who recently became the men's 35's worlds singles champ. We chat about his career, challenges along the way, what he is up to now and how he will always be a competitor. Hope you enjoy the episode. Fabio Have you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here …

Super chat this week with Franco Herrero, the physical trainer of Tommy Paul and Sofia Kenin. We chat about a wide range of topics His upbringing and interest in Strength & Conditioning Moving from Argentina to work and become director of fitness at Evert Academy at a young age Advice for 8/9 years old as well as teenagers and 40-year-olds! Working…

I've taken 4 excerpts from previous guests that had mentioned Federer in this short episode. We have Paul Annacone Francis Tiafoe Nikolay Davydenko Sven Swinnem If you have any great Federer stories please let me know! Fabio Find us on Social Media: Instagram: Instagram.com/FunctionalTennisPodcast YouTube: Functional Tennis Podcast Twitter: twitter…

This week is the 2nd part of our mini-series with Irish Tennis player Conor Gannon. I plan to catch up with Conor every 4 to 5 weeks during his 2nd year (or sophomore year) at his new University. He spent his first year (aka freshman year) at the University of Tennessee, which at one stage where the No.1 ranked university. Conor felt he needed a ch…

Quick chat today with up-and-coming Swiss player Joanne Zuger. Joanne is currently ranked in the 160s and is on top of 2022 goals. I find out about her career so far, her introduction to grand slam tennis, conscription in the Swiss Army which is not as bad as it sounds and more. I hope you enjoy this episode. Fabio Ps. Have you seen the Functional …

This week I speak to world-renowned coach Riccardo Piatti. Riccardo has been working as a coach for 40 years and has a wealth of experience working at the top of the game from junior to senior level. Riccardo has worked with great players such as Ivan Ljubicic, Maria Sharapova, Milos Raonic, Borna Coric, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, and Richard G…

I catch up former pro and now coach and commentator Kenneth Carlsen. Kenneth was a Danish number for over 10 years as well as reaching a career-high ATP No.41. We chat a lot about junior development and some of the players he worked with (a young Holger Rune and Clara Tauson) and young juniors he is working with right now. Day-to-day life for Kenne…

This week I have a joyful chat with week with Mexican tennis player Fernanda Contreras Gomez. Fernanda made her Wimbledon debut this year to the joy of her late grandfather who was a former semi-finalist at Wimbledon. She tells us all about her experience there, what it meant to her and we also chat about her college days, how she decided to go pro…

Today I speak to 27-year-old Tamara Korpatsch (ranked WTA 130) who made her first main draw Wimbledon appearance this year. She tells us all about the up and downs of it, from the excitement of being a main draw player to a tense match with Heather Watson and to the disappointment of her doubles partner pulling out an hour before her 1st round doub…

This week is the start of a new mini-series for the next 10 months. It involves following the progress of Conor Gannon, who we had on the show earlier this year. Conor was on a tennis Scholarship at the University of Tennessee, where at one stage last season they were ranked number 1 in the US. Conor had to fight it out for his place on his team. F…

Today I speak to Adam Walton who has made an impactful start to his pro career with 2 future titles followed by a semi-final. Adam is about to finish his master's at the University of Tennessee where he was a 4 time all All-American, number 2 national ranked in singles and NCAA doubles champion. We chat about his decision to go to college, his coll…

Excited to speak to Facundo Lugones this week on episode 157 of the Functional Tennis podcast. Facundo first met Cam at Texas Christian University and has been working with him since 2017. Facundo tells us about his tennis and coaching journey insights into Cam and challenges along the way. Make sure to check out our other episodes with ATP/WTA coa…

After a few weeks' break from the podcast, I am back this week with former guest Dave O'Hare. I haven't done too many in-person chats and really enjoyed sitting down with Dave to catch up. The last time I had Dave on the show pre the covid pandemic breakout he was on waiting on his visa to start a coaching role at the University of Memphis. He tell…

This week I speak to Shane Liyanage from Data Driven Sports Analytics. Shane provides a range of data/analytical services and works with players such as Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka, Emil Ruusuvouri and Taro Daniel. We chat about How Shane got into the tennis data world Process when working with senior and junior players Shane’s team Pricing for his…

Today I speak to performance coach Lapo Becherini. Lapo is based at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy and works with players such as Holger Rune, Lorenzo Musetti, Alexei Popryin and more. We chat about his early career and the differences between soccer players and tennis players. How the world's best train. How lower-ranked players are fitter than hi…

This week I speak to Ukrainian WTA Top 40 player Anhelina Kalinina. She tells us about how she and her family's life has been since her last visit to Ukraine in February. Anhelina also tells us about her Junior days on the ITF Development squad and what changed in her game from being a top 150 player to a top 50 player I hope you enjoy the episode.…

With Roland Garros currently on, it's great timing to have the youngest ever Roland Garros men's champ in the open era on the show, Michael Chang. I initially saw Michael at the IMG Future Stars event in Greece and asked him to come on the show, it's taken a few weeks but it happened!! We chatted about the famous match with Ivan Lendl in the 4th ro…

This week I chat with Tina Lee, a former player now coach at the USTA National Campus and mother to the boys under 12 winner at the IMG Future Stars, Jordan Lee, who is one of the world's best 12-year-olds. We have a great chat about her journey, her coaching role at the USTA National Campus, balancing the parent/coach relationship with her son Jor…

This week I speak to Felix Mischker who you may know from the extremely popular Tennis Brothers Youtube Channel. Felix is currently documenting his journey to 1 ATP point with very interesting content on his YouTube account. Along with his brother Lucian the Tennis Brothers' presence on social media channels has always been strong with great conten…

This week I speak to Hungarian WTA player Anna Bondar. Anna broke into the top 100 last year 6 years after turning pro. She tells us about her journey of breaking through and what her plans are this year. Main topics: Training in Budapest ACL injury and recovery Anna’s team Nervous last push t break the Top 100 2022 goals Advice for upcoming player…

This week I am out of the office and recording live with IMG super-agent Max Eisenbud at the Tatoi Club in Athens Greece. We are here for the IMG Future Stars event featuring some of the world's best under 12 players in the world. Max tells us about his early IMG days where on his first day at the IMG academy he met an 11-year-old Maria Sharapova. …

This week I speak to Claudio Pistolesi. Claudio is a former player turned coach who has worked with many players over his expansive coaching career. He now looks after a JTCC centre in Jacksonville Florida and consults with pros, one of them being Emil Ruusuvuori. We chat about many of his experiences on the court and off the court. Major topics in…

Welcome to Tie Break 03. Next week's guest is a former player and coach of over 23 years Claudio Pistolesi. Claudio works with many great players and when he slowed down on the travelling he was based in the US and an Italian coach asked him to help get Matteo a US tennis Scholarship. Listen to see how they got it all wrong! Have you seen the Funct…

It's' been a while since I've had a strength and conditioning coach on the podcast and when the opportunity came to have Eric on I jumped on it. Eric Hernandez is the S&C trainer of Daniil Medvedev. They've worked together since June 2014 when Daniil had just finished the junior tour and was getting ready to make the transition to the senior tour a…

A short clip from next week's episode with Eric Hernandez, the strength and conditioning coach of Daniil Medvedev since Daniil turned pro in 2014. Eric tells us how he has maintained his long term relationship with Daniil. Have you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing the ball Find u…

A very interesting episode this week with Goran Novakovic. Goran founded the Ten-Pro Global Junior Tour which I only became aware of recently. It's a junior tour for under 10's to under 15's where juniors are guaranteed to get a set amount of matches, costs can be more controlled for parents and players are treated like pros. Goran tells us how it …

Welcome to a new series called Tie-Break where I mainly plan to release a short preview of upcoming episodes. I may also release a throwback from one of our 145 Plus episodes of a story that was entertaining or a lesson not to be missed. Finally, on a rare occasion, I may jump in to discuss a topical tennis matter. We start off this week with Goran…

Arthur Fery is on this week's episode. Arthur was ranked No.1 in US College Tennis earlier this year, in only his second year playing for Stanford. We chat about the Brit's decision to play College Tennis, life in the US as well his run to the last round of qualies at Wimbledon in 2021. Areas we cover Growing up nearly Wimbledon Importance of playi…

Excited to have world-renowned coach Carlos Rodriguez on the Functional Tennis Podcast. Carlos is currently the technical director at the Justine Henin Academy. He has worked for over 35 years as a tennis coach with 16 years as the coach to 7-time Slam champion Justine Henin, 3 with Li Na who won an Aussie Open Slam. He also worked for 10 years run…

This week Sven Swinnem joins me for a chat. Sven is a former player turned Swiss Federation Coach and looks after the up and coming Swiss player Dominic Sticker. We chat about Early Tennis Days Living with Federer at the Swiss Federation US College Tennis at Oregon Giving the Pro tour a go Moving into Coaching Working with Dominic Sticker Learnings…

This week I chat with JY Aubone. Former college player, JY quickly got into coaching and got the opportunity to coach a future top 20 tennis player; Reilly Opelka! After a first experience with the giant American, JY had to split his relationship as Reilly couldn’t offer him a full-time job as a coach. Jean Yves then went back to his studies and wo…

Today I chat with Zack Thomas, known as The Foot Doctor. I came across his YouTube channel in 2021 and I've been a big fan since. He uses his medical background to help give more information about each shoe and how it can affect your foot. I love the way he slices open the shoes to show you want is inside them. We chat about all of this, including …

It was an honour to speak to Frances Tiafoe. Currently ranked at 34 in the world Frances is a threat to any of the higher-ranked players. Frances provides great answers and is a great thinker and student of the game. We cover: [02:42] What’s it not been able to compete * [03:34] What’s it like going back to a tournament that you won? [04:23] What’s…

What a great episode this week with Vesa Ponkka from the JTCC (Junior Tennis Champions Center) in College Park, Maryland. Ever since it was set up the JTCC has been run as a non for profit tennis training center which is unique within the tennis world. I really enjoyed this chat where I learned all about the center from its early days to today. You…

Conor Gannon, a freshman at the University of Tennessee speaks to us this week about what it's like to play for the top ranked college team in the US! Conor is Irish & is currently fighting for his sport in the starting team. We talk: Where tennis began for him The need for consistency The competitive atmosphere within the team Training drills We'v…