ATP Tennis Radio

Welcome back to part two of a special edition of the ATP Podcast focussing on the Greatest of All Time, the GOAT. Presenter Seb Lauzier is back with former WTA Player Jill Craybas and tennis journalist and author of biographies on both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Chris Bowers and having discussed the numbers and how they stack up, in this concluding edition of the podcast, the team discuss the intangibles - consistency, dominance, mentality, as well as looking at contributiong factors such as the surfaces, fitness regimes and the difference between women's success and men's.Presenter Seb LauzierGuests - Chris Bowers and Jill CraybasAudio inserts - Cedric Pioline, Jeremy Chardy, Jackson Withrow, Paul Haarhuis, Ivan Ljubicic and Pablo Andujar.Chris Bowers 'Greatest of All Time' presentation - https://chrisbowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Greatest-paper-03NOV2023.pdf

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

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.

First came the Australian giants Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Margaret Court and Rod Laver, then the electricity of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, the athleticism and power of Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf and their countless rivals before the entrance of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams who together took title-winning standards to a whole new level. This year Djokovic has achieved a feat many considered out of reach in equalling Margaret Court's record 24 singles major titles, but do titles alone define Greatness, or are there other factors at play when we go in search of the Goat – the Greatest of All Time?How should the Greatest be judged? Success? Substance? Style? Celebrity? Presenter Seb Lauzier is joined for a two-part special by esteemed tennis journalist and author of biographies on both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Chris Bowers and WTA player turned tennis commentator and reporter, Jill Craybas tpo discuss and debate those very questions.Presenter Seb LauzierGuests - Chris Bowers and Jill CraybasAudio inserts - Ivan Ljubicic, Jeremy Chardy, Brad Stine, Paul Haarhuis and Craig O'ShannessyChris Bowers 'Greatest of All Time' presentation - https://chrisbowers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Greatest-paper-03NOV2023.pdf

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

Chris Bowers catches up with Alexei Popyrin's coach, Neville Godwin

Welcome to the second of a series of ATP Podcast specials. This week presenter Chris Bowers looks at the development of tennis away from the court, from its global appeal, to the various innovations and its ambition to reach new audiences on new platforms. To help us along this journey we're joined by tennis glitterati including Cedric Pioline, Nick Kyrgios, Paul Haarhuis, Brad Stine, Ivan Ljubicic and many more. Headlines are...PAUL HAARHUIS ON THE WORLDWIDE NATURE OF THE SPORT - 'Tennis is doing really well internationally, worldwide. If you look at the amount of countries that play it, it's the second biggest sport in the world when it comes to viewer average and viewer interest in the game, so that means you're heading in the right direction'.CEDRIC PIOLINE ON INNOVATIONS AT THE ROLEX PARIS MASTERS - 'There are several things like here we have an entrance show with tunnel lights and music and the music is the decision of the fans through the app. They choose which music they would like along with the colours, so I think it's very interesting and very interactive'.NICK KYRGIOS ON ENTERTAINMENT - ‘You look at the NBA side of things, when people arrive to the stadium, arrive to practice, what they leave in. It kind of gives the fans an idea of what type of personality they are and you can kind of relate to those players a lot more than you can do with tennis players'.IVAN LJUBICIC ON DIFFERENT FORMATS - ‘I'm a huge chess fan and chess over the last five to ten years has become popular because they introduced faster speed moves, different formats and why this is interesting is that it has shown that you can introduce the faster formats without damaging the classic ones'.BRAD STINE ON COURT SIZE AND RACQUETS - 'The court doesn't change and the physics of what you can do is limiting, so if there are any changes, again it goes back to the racquets and the racquet technology'.

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.

The first of a series of ATP Podcast specials focusing on various aspects of the game and to kick things off we look at how tennis was played and viewed 20-30 years ago, how it is currently and how we think it might shape up in the future and to do that presenter Chris Bowers is joined by some of the greatest minds on the circuit including Roger Federer's former coach, Ivan Ljubicic, top 10 player Radek Stepanek, who after spending time coaching Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov, can now be found helping young American Sebastian Korda with his game and Tommy Paul's current coach Brad Stine, who in the early 90s alongside Jose Higueras, helped Jim Courier reach world number one.IVAN LJUBICIC ON THE SERVE - 'The biggest difference is the serve. This is one shot which has deteriorated over the years and the reason for that is that people used to serve big and now I think that has changed completely and people are now just serving ok'.IVAN LJUBICIC ON STYLES - ‘Our sport is too complex to end up having the same kind of players in the future, so I think our sport will keep evolving and will always be interesting'.RADEK STEPANEK ON PHYSICALITY - ‘Look at Novak Djokovic, he's pushing his physicality with every year and he's putting youngsters on the edge, so to be physically prepared, you need to be disciplined and to have good rest and recovery'BRAD STINE ON RECOVERY - ‘It's a factor that's become a very big aspect of the game and even people outside the top 100 now are travelling with a physio and the physio has become a very significant aspect of a team'.IVAN LJUBICIC ON TENNIS IN THE FUTURE - 'We need to think in every single aspect, do we include the data, do we include the way of working on the tennis court, do we need to include the way of working in the gym? There are many things we need to question'.RADEK STEPANEK ON TENNIS IN THE FUTURE - ‘I hope the creativity will be there, the emotions will be there, the rivalries will be there and in terms of how it's going to look, who know where racquets will be in ten years time, who know where balls will be, what surface, what formats? I don't know where we'll be in ten to fifteen years. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow'.BRAD STINE ON TENNIS IN THE FUTURE - 'The game right now is in very, very good hands. People are always worried about generational change, but it doesn't change the sport. You go to the Grand Slams and the Masters 1000 events and the drama and quality of tennis that being produced on the courts creates narratives that are exciting for people to watch and follow'.

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.

HAMAD MEDJEDOVIC ON HIS TEMPERAMENT - ‘I'm trying to keep relaxed, but I'm very emotional on the court and I want to win every match I'm playing and sometimes you get nervous, but I'm fighting with myself, with my emotions on the court and I'm trying to be as positive as I can be, so this is my main goal'.ARTHUR FILS ON LEWIS HAMILTON - ‘He's an unbelievable champion and it's crazy what he's doing from where he's from. He's my idol since when I was young and I'm really not doing like him, but I'm always looks and what he's doing and everything he's doing is nice'.DOMINIC STRICKER ON HIS LACK OF CONSISTENCY - ‘We're going to work on that as that's important to play the next steps and so I can play my best tennis everyday, so If I'm going to do that I will get higher in the ranking again, everything is going to get more solid and more opponents are going to have a problem against me'.LUCA VAN ASSCHE ON HIS STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY - ‘I'm studying in Paris and It's going well, I passed the last exams. I'm trying to find the good time to study as it takes a lot of energy and my priority is tennis, but when I have time and energy I'm studying and then the big parts are the pre-season and outside of tournaments'.LUCA NARDI ON ITALIAN TENNIS - ‘We are having a very good period for Italian players including the Davis Cup. It pushes me to be a better player and to reach the other players in front of me'.FLAVIO COBOLLI ON SUPPORTING AND PLAYING FOR ROMA WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER - ‘It's my big passion and I have a lot of tattoos of Roma. I started to play football when I was young, but now I can't because of tennis'.ALEX MICHELSEN ON HIS RAPID RISE UP THE RANKINGS - 'Starting the year at 600 in the world I never thought I'd be here, but starting there and then getting to 300 by March, April and then just climbing and climbing and then July I went from 240 to 140 and then all of a sudden I'm not going to college, I'm going pro'. ABDULLAH SHELBAYH ON REPRESENTING JORDAN - ‘I think it's good pressure to have. Any pressure in sport when you are doing better than you thought I think I can't really complain about it because it shows that I've improved a lot throughout the years. It pushes me even harder to work even harder to achieve more things for my country'.PLUS THE NEXTGEN PLAYERS TAKE US THROUGH THE LATEST RULE INNOVATIONS THAT THEY LIKE AND THE ONES THEY ARE STRUGGLING WITH- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Candy Reid- Rules feature by ATP Media

Lorenzo Musetti's long-time coach Simone Tartarini speaks to Chris Bowers about his player's development and hopes for the future.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR ADAM HOGG ON THE NEXTGEN ATP FINALS IN JEDDAH - 'The event has build a head of steam over the past five, six years and we're really excited now to take the sport to a new marketplace in Saudi and to be the first professional tennis event in the Kingdom. It's a huge opportunity'.DOUBLES STAR EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN ON THE FRENCH PLAYERS - ‘In France we were so lucky to have Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet who were top ten, top twenty for so many years and that makes all the young guys think that if they want to be part of the french tennis history, they have to be that good'.JOURNALIST LORENZO ERCOLI ON THE ITALIAN PLAYERS - ‘We have right now a lot of players, not only in the top hundred, but also in the top two hundred and I think the big change was first of all in the preparation with players, they started to help private teams and that was very helpful'.JOURNALIST NEBOJSA VISKOVIC ON HAMAD MADJEDOVIC - ‘He's a talented guy, a good junior but not top, but now he's improving with small and steady steps and his work ethic is phenomenal'ABDULLAH SHELBAYH ON REPRESENTING TENNIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA - ‘I try to not put too much pressure on myself but having Ons Jabeur and Mailk Jaziri is something very inspiring for me and I also had the same coach as her before and that pushes me forward. Watching more Arabic players come to the tour is something very special'.- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Jill Craybas and Seb Lauzier

Former tennis player Bryan Shelton speaks to Chris Bowers about his son Ben's progression through the ranks.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON WINNING A RECORD SEVENTH NITTO ATP FINALS CROWN - ‘Very special, one of the best season's I've had in my life no doubt and to crown it by beating the hometown hero in Jannik who has played amazing tennis this week is phenomenal'.NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON FINISHING YEAR-END NO 1 - 'It's amazing because starting the year I knew schedule-wise I wouldn't being playing the tour as much as other players, so I didn't know if I fancied my chances to end the year as number one, but I was fortunate to play so well in those eleven or twelve tournaments I participated in, I accumulated a lot of points'.JANNIK SINNER ON HIS RACQUET - 'The racquet is the most important tool for every tennis player and what I look for is good speed, but also good control and I try to produce the spin by myself a little bit, so I have to feel the racquet in the right way, but for me it's more important how fast the ball goes out of the strings and obviously you need a lot of control because every year the courts and balls are getting so much faster'.CRAIG O'SHANNESSY ON THE ITALIAN TENNIS FEDERATION EMBRACING DATA - ‘Italy have decided they are going to be the number one country that follows analytics and they are not going to guess about the sport, they are all in'.RAJEEV RAM AND JOE SALISBURY ON WINNING THE NITTO ATP FINALS DOUBLES EVENT FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW - ‘We love this place, this is the biggest tournament we play on the ATP calendar all year and to win it twice in a row is something we would never have thought of and we're so proud of'.COACH DAVID O'HARE ON RAM & SALISBURY WORKING THROUGH A SLUMP EARLIER IN THE YEAR - 'The reality is it's a relationship and managing a relationship and it got to a point where they needed to have conversations with one-and-other. We had really good conversations after Wimbledon and then after Washington we had a good honest conversation and then the vibes changed completely after New York and in this sport, winning is everything'.ROHAN BOPANNA ON HOW HE'S ABLE TO PLAY AT THE TOP AT THE AGE OF 43 - 'The number one thing is my mental strength, the ability to adapt to situations on where the game really challenges me and I'm grateful that my brain is thinking because at times, as tennis players, the brain switches off and you go on instinct and thankfully that aspect is one of my biggest strengths, along with recovery'.NIHESH BASAVAREDDY ON BEING A NITTO ATP FINALS HITTING PARTNER AFTER INJURY - ‘When I was eleven years old my kneecap dislocated and I tore part of the cartilage in my knee, so I had surgery on that and then I tore my meniscus in the same knee and then last year I was having wrist injuries, so I had wrist surgery to repair a torn ligament'.EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN ON THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS - 'To be in Paris, to live in Paris and have all the people coming from all over the world for sports, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity and that's why I'm looking forward to it and if I can play there, it will be amazing, but just to be in Paris will be incredible'.PLUS, JEREMY CHARDY, THOMAZ BELLUCCI, OLIVER MARACH & PABLO ANDUJAR SPEAK TO JILL CRAYBAS ABOUT LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT- Podcast presenter Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Ursin Caderas, Jill Craybas & Chris Bowers

Jill Craybas sits down with Nitto ATP Finals hitting partner Gonzalo Bueno to find out more about the youngster from Peru.

Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna speaks to Chris Bowers about the secret of his longevity

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

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

Young Czech player Jiri Lehecka talks about his development and working with his coaching team including Michal Navratil, Radek Stepanek (not the former player) and former top five star Tomas Berdych.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON TAKING TIME AWAY FROM THE TOUR - ‘I've played professional tennis over twenty years now and I'm so grateful that tennis has allowed me to build an incredible platform and I try to make the most of the weeks that I'm not playing, spend time with family and rest my body, and I've definitely rested my body!'STEFANOS TSITSIPAS ON QUALIFYING FOR TURIN - ‘It's a whole celebration of the best of the best in our sport. We get together and focus on the fact that we are the best in the world focussing on this mega trophy and it means a lot being able to qualify every year. I would consider it probably a bigger thing than a Grand Slam honestly'. ALEXANDER ZVEREV ON QUALIFYING FOR TURIN - ‘It's just the prestige to be there, one of the best eight players in the world. One of the great things with this tournament is that you play one of the eight best players right from the off and that is one of the best things about it'.HOLGER RUNE ON HAVING BORIS BECKER AS A COACH - ‘It's been great working with Boris Becker and what you can see on the court is what we've been working on. We have made a few adjustments to come back on track a little bit and whilst I still haven't found my best level, we are definitely building'.ROMAN SAFIULLIN ON BEING A PROLIFIC JUNIOR AND HIS SLOW ASCENT ON THE MAIN TOUR - ‘I had many problems with health and big injuries and it was difficult to come back and after injuries I had to start over again and let's say everyone has a different life and I had a harder life, but hopefully I'll catch up and be able to get into the top 10'.NATE LAMMONS ON WHY HE AND DOUBLES PARTNER JACKSON WITHROW HAVE RISEN UP THE RANKINGS - ‘Definitely I'm playing shots that I wouldn't have played before, but mostly it's about playing with a partner for a long time, knowing what they can do in different moments and we're also riding a wave or everything being new, as well as the level being up there'.PLUS GRIGOR DIMITROV AND GAEL MONFILS BUILD THEIR FANTASY TENNIS PLAYERS, COURTESY OF ATP UNCOVERED- Podcast presented by Chris Bowers- Interviews by Chris Bowers- Features by ATP Uncovered

Wesley Koolhof & Neal Skupski speak to reporter Chris Bowers about their year which included a Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

FERNANDO VICENTE ON ANDREY RUBLEV'S BELIEF - ‘I think he really believes, but the problem in all of these quarter-finals, in seven of them we didn't really have a chance because we faced better players and he was young, but in one of them against Marin Cilic, he didn't really act good in the fifth, but he's ready to cross the line'.IVAN LJUBICIC ON BEING BACK ON TOUR AS A COACH AND CONSULTANT - ‘I'm back on tour as ever since Covid with Roger Federer he didn't really travel much. Everything is more involved now but I love it, I love the tour, I've been on tour for more than 25 years now and I'm not planning to go anywhere'.LUCA VAN ASSCHE ON HIS AMBITION - ‘In five years I hope that I will be a Grand Slam winner, number one in the world and that I will be a very famous player, a loved one, so yes, that's it'.KAREN KHACHANOV ON DEALING WITH THE MENTAL SIDE OF THE GAME - ‘It's a process but I would say that you don't over think, you just focus on the current process. On a daily basis you can get stressed in a way, more nervous that you can't control and it becomes like a hurricane from week-to-week and from last year I feel like I'm in more control'.HOLGER RUNE ON BORIS BECKER JOINING HIS TEAM - ‘Boris and I have known each other for some years and he was writing to me, showing me that he liked me as a person, as a player, so the last few weeks we've got in touch and hopefully we can be successful'. MIKE JAMES ON HIS ROLE AS PERFORMANCE ANALYST - ‘We're trying to pull everything together to try to gain five or six points a tennis match and if you're talking about someone like Holger Rune, you're at Everest base camp, you can see the summit, so how do you buy an extra two hundred points a season to get to number one in the world'.PLUS ATP UNCOVERED LOOK BACK ON HOW HOLGER RUNE WON THE 2022 ROLEX PARIS MASTERS- Podcast presented by Chris Bowers- Interviews by Chris Bowers, Seb Lauzier, and Candy Reid- Features by ATP Uncovered

Performance analyst at Mouratoglu Analytics and Mouratoglu Academy, Mike James speaks to ATP Podcast presenter and reporter Candy Reid about the marginal gains in the sport and working with Dane, Holger Rune.

Candy Reid catches up with young Austrian, Jurij Rodionov

TOMMY PAUL ON THE CAMARADERIE BETWEEN AMERICAN PLAYERS - ‘For me it's all fun and I think for almost all of us. I mean I think if I was on tour without any Americans, I don't know how long I'd play the sport, as I have so much more fun by just having them here'.ALEX DE MINAUR ON HIS STRONG 2023 - ‘I'm definitely not taking it all for granted. It's a pretty good position to be in, but as with everything with life, when you get to a certain spot you want more and so that's the kind of stage i'm at now, I can see a lot of goals of mine getting close and so I'm trying to push as hard as I can to achieve them'.FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME ON THE NEED FOR PERSPECTIVE - ‘People say this must be the toughest year I've had, but not so much because I feel like I've been fortunate to play good tennis in the past few years, be healthy, enjoy my tennis and travel the world and yeah, this year has been more difficult result-wise, but I'm feeling good and I feel positive about my game and I know with time, results will come '.ARTHUR FILS ON HIS AMBITION - 'I started to take tennis seriously around ten or eleven years old and I knew I was going to be a good tennis player and my dream was to be number one and win some Grand Slams, so I'm on the way'JIRI LEHECKA ON LEARNING TO ADAPT TO THE MAIN TOUR - 'The consistency at the very top level is a very hard thing to do, but a very important one to do. The physical game is one of the most important things in tennis as well and it's very hard to beat a guy who's physically very good, but the mental game is the most important one, because if you are not ready mentally, you have nothing to do on the court'.ANEKE RUNE ON BEING PART OF HOLGER'S TEAM - ‘I thought that when he was a teenager he would say that he was good on his own, but somehow, when you become better and better, the more you need people you can trust and my only interest in Holger is that he does good, so when he comes to me and asks for an honest opinion, he always get one'.CASPER RUUD ON THE RACE TO TURIN - ‘I'm currently sitting at number ten in the race so it's going to be a couple of important tournaments coming up now. I'm still technically in the race and still have a chance to qualify, but there's obviously a bit of pressure on the line, but I'm going to give it a go, come in clutch and finish very strong this year'.- Show presented by Chris Bowers- Interviews by Paul King and Jill Craybas- Features by ATP Uncovered and ATP Media

Holger Rune's mum Aneke sits down with Jill Craybas to discuss all manner of subjects including growing up in Denmark, his mentality and his desire to become the world's best tennis player.

HUBERT HURKACZ ON VOLLEYING - ‘Definitely it's important for my game you know because I can serve pretty big and that definitely helps to set up another shot as I can follow to the net, so as long as I can be aggressive from the base line, I can come to the net'.GRIGOR DIMITROV COACH JAMIE DELGADO ON HIS PLAYER - ‘He's got all the shots and he's been using his slice well to set up his best shots, but most players play better when they are being pro-active and looking to make things happen a little bit and definitely as the year has gone on he's been getting better and better at that'.GRIGOR DIMITROV ON MANAGING HIS BODY - ‘I like to go to the gym even when I have days off, but keeping the body fresh is all I'm trying to do to be honest, so I've been focussing on good rehab, going to the beach and doing a lot of massage, stretches and trying to keep the body up-to-speed, whilst not getting soft at the same time'.JANNIK SINNER ON QUALIFYING FOR TURIN - ‘It's just incredible and it's tough to think about this when you're young. Two years ago I had the chance to play there, but that was because of Matteo Berrettini hurting himself and it is a different feeling when you make it in the official eight and I'm very much looking forward to it'.ROGER FEDERER ON RETIREMENT - ‘I didn't have any plans because I was always trying to come back, but now for six months I have had much more control of my schedule, I like being with other people and I like being with my family, so things are great'.ROGER FEDERER ON RAFAEL NADAL - ‘I am very relaxed on-and-off-site, whereas he has an incredible intensity and he was like a tiger in the cage and he's going around and there's always stuff to do for him and you could always tell he had a match on his mind'.ROGER FEDERER ON CARLOS ALCARAZ - ‘He's still young and everything he's achieved is fantastic and not just on clay, but on hard and beating Djokovic at Wimbledon, that is no joke. We didn't really need to prove that point, but that is another major plus on his cv. He's going to lose from time-to-time, but he's got an unbelievable game and an unbelievable future ahead of him'.PLUS ANDREY RUBLEV BUILDS THE PERFECT PLAYER AND BEN SHELTON SPEAKS ABOUT HOW HE GOT INTO THE GAME- Podcast presented by Chris Bowers- Interviews by Ursin Caderas, Jill Craybas and Chris Bowers- Features by ATP Uncovered

Former player Yen-Hsun Lu, known as Rendy Lu on tour, talks to Ursin Caderas about coaching upcoming Chinese star, Zhizhen Zhang.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR MICHAEL LUEVANO ON THE RETURN OF THE SHANGHAI MASTERS - 'Tennis is huge in China, it is the last untapped market. They've embraced a new generation of players and now they are more educated, they're younger, we have the youngest audience demographic on the entire ATP Tour in terms of fans, so we're going to be the best Masters 1000 event in the world'ATP CHAIRMAN ANDREA GAUDENZI ON TENNIS IN CHINA - ‘China is a very big market and tennis is a global sport, so our presence here in China is really important for us because we want tennis to become a popular sport in the entire world. Having a premium event of this size is really important to try to get more kids to play tennis and more fans to engage'BEN SHELTON ON HIS RAPID DEVELOPMENT- ‘When you're in the moment you're not really focussing on it as much and right now I'm just focussing on improving and onto the next, so I'm not really giving myself time to think about where I was'.HOLGER RUNE ON HIS DIP IN FORM - ‘Firstly my mind is to get back to my level and from there start improving again and it would be great to say that after a good and then not a good year to at least say that I finished in Turin'JANNIK SINNER ON HIS PLAN FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON - ‘We try to take this last part of the season as trying to improve, trying a couple of new things on court and making a couple of things happen already for next year so that next year can start in a good way'STEFANOS TSITSIPAS ON WHAT WINNING THE NITTO ATP FINALS IN 2019 GAVE TO HIM - ‘I look back to these moments that I debuted in before, the year-end tournament and I saw so many positives come out of this and I gain so much that it pushed me through'.ALEXANDER ZVEREV ON WINNING IN CHENGDU RECENTLY - ‘Just happy to win another title as it's still my comeback year and it's been going great so far and important points for Turin, so I'm happy to be here and playing great tennis'TAYLOR FRITZ ON THE RACE TO TURIN - ‘I have points to defend, but I'm not paying attention to the points because obviously the goal is to be top eight and honestly what it's going to take is some big results'.ALEX DE MINAUR ON THE RACE TO TURIN - ‘It's plain and simple for me, it's all about myself and if I want to qualify I have to go deep in tournaments and it's all about me'CASPER RUUD ON LEARNING FROM DEFEAT TO CARLOS ALCARAZ - ‘Don't get me wrong, it's not like I know next time I play him I'll know all the answers to his game, but next time I' play him I'll try to beat him. He's one of the few guys where you really feel kind of different out there on court' PLUS FEATURES WITH CHINESE STARS, ZHIZHEN ZHANG, QINWEN ZHENG & YIBING WU

Jill Craybas meets upcoming Chinese star Zhizhen Zhang.

YOSHIHITO NISHIOKA ON THE BENEFITS OF A HIGHER RANKING - ‘Before I was seeded at Grand Slams I was looking at the draw ceremony and thinking that I didn't want to play Djokovic or Medvedev and those top players, but now that I'm seeded I don't have to think about that and then I can focus on my tennis for the first few rounds'.YIBING WU ON MAKING SACRIFICES - ‘In the past two years I've only been home once and I didn't have that much time because I'm now based in Florida. It's very tough not to see family, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices to achieve your goals'.ZHIZHEN ZHANG ON IS TENNIS IDOLS - ‘All the time was Roger Federer, but there was one moment for Safin because they had a great match in the Australian Open semi-finals as they had a five-setter, so in that period it was for Safin a little bit, but all the rest was for Roger'.JUNCHENG SHANG ON HIS PARENTS - ‘My dad was a professional footballer and my mum played table tennis, they were both professional, so I was lucky to have two athletes with me telling me their experiences and that's been helping me a lot'.BENJAMIN EBRAHIMZADEH ON HIS COACHING PHILOSOPHY - ‘As a coach you need to understand the person first. You need to understand how to talk to them, how to approach them and you need to understand their story a little bit, because the story comes out in the stress moments. It's easier to have the understanding sometimes of why things are happening, because when you have certain situations in your life, they can be expressed in the match'. 

Chinese Juncheng 'Jerry' Shang speaks to Jill Craybas about what it's like trying to break through onto the main tour.

Jill Craybas speaks to Chun-Hsin Tseng's coach, Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh about his young player from Taipei and also his coaching philospohy.

This week's show focusses on the Laver Cup. Chris Bowers is joined by tennis commentator and former WTA player Sam Smith to look back over the event and discuss its place in the tennis calendar. They also introduce a number or interviews and features. Headlines are...TEAM WORLD CAPTAIN JOHN MCENROE 'This is something that I've believed in from the beginning and to me it was like a no-brainer and I worry that our sport doesn't understand what It has sometimes and I believe the name Rod Laver is a name we should always use to our advantage and Roger Federer and why this thing isn't at the top of the chain for all players to play, I don't know'.TEAM EUROPE CAPTAIN BJORN BORG - 'This is the most important week for me every year and to pick the right players for the competition is very important and the important thing it that we need different players, different styles, different personalities to get into the Laver Cup'.FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME ON TENNIS IN CANADA - ‘My dad owns a tennis academy in Quebec City and the interest and number of kids just keeps on growing. I was last week in the National Tennis Centre in Montreal and the gym was full of kids and the courts were full of kids everywhere'.CASPER RUUD ON HOW LAVER CUP HAS A SPECIAL PLACE IN HIS HEART - ‘You know when I played Laver up the first time I had just reached the top ten for the first time, so I was very excited about that and I've been able to stay there now for two years and it has just given me more belief that I belong at this stage, that I belong among the top players in the world and play tennis on the biggest stages and Laver Cup is definitely one of the biggest stages we play throughout the year'.GAEL MONFILS ON THE ENTERTAINMENT SIDE OF THE GAME - 'Some haters say that trick shots disrespect the opponent but first, it's not disrespect because to hit a trick shot you have to be super-focussed so you don't hurt yourself and when you try something different, it's harder than something simple, but the main thing I'd say to the haters is focus on yourself'.MIKE RUSSELL ON MANAGING A PLAYING SCHEDULE - ‘We all discuss what's better what we think is best for his body and tennis, but the difficult thing with scheduling is that as your ranking increases, you get more opportunities and so the off season, where you could have an eight week off season, you then have a whole bunch of exhibition tournaments and events that you can play in and which makes a good financial incentive, so it's hard to say no to those, so factoring those in and still have proper training weeks physically and focussing on your tennis is hard for everyone'.PLUS IN AN EXCLUSIVE FEATURE, ATP UNCOVERED LOOK AT THE RETURN OF TENNIS TO CHINA- Podcast presenter, Chris Bowers- Podcast guest, Sam Smith- Interviews by Chris Bowers, Candy Reid and Ursin Caderas- Feature by ATP Uncovered

Japanese Shintaro Mochizuki speaks to our reporter Jill Craybas about his time as a young child who first picked up the raquet at the age of three, to his time now trying to break through onto he main tour.

This week Candy Reid interviews legendary tennis coach Rick Macci in a podcast special. Headlines are...RICK MACCI ON COACHING KIDS - ‘It's all the other things that stick with the kids that help them become a better doctor or lawyer, or treat their kids better or you know, I help kids get better grades or get off drugs or treat people better. To me I don't just change strokes, I change lives and that's the best feeling in the world'.RICK MACCI ON WORKING WITH PARENTS - ‘It's not only about teaching kids, I teach the parents and that's the art of coaching. Think about it, they eventually start telling me what to do, how crazy is that? But I tell people I should be in the Hall of Fame just for dealing with Richard Williams for four years! You have to have a certain personality just dealing with the cast of characters, Jim Pierce, Stefano Capriati, Richard Williams, keeping your hands around that, that's the tough thing'.RICK MACCI ON SERENA WILLIAMS - ‘When she was ten, Serena wasn't that good. I had ten thousand parents look at that video and say that their kid was better then that, but they didn't see what was under the hood. There were arms, legs and head all over the place, but when I said to play competitive points, the whole landscape changed, there was a rage. You don't judge the book by the cover. It's what I saw under the hood which was the wildcard and that's why she's going to be the greatest of all time'.RICK MACCI ON ANDY RODDICK - ‘His thirst for competition was like no other. The guy was so competitive, the wiring to compete, which is the wildcard really to handle the pressure, his competitive thirst, he was a mosquito, he just wouldn't leave you alone. He was never going to be a Sampras or a Chang, but I think he over-achieved and people didn't appreciate him as much until we haven't really had another male American Grand Slam Champion since'.RICK MACCI ON HIS COACHING PHILOSOPHY - ‘I tell people I've been wrong a lot and that's why I'm right more than most people. There's motivational signs all over the Rick Macci tennis centre like 'Winners find a way, losers find excuses' and that's the power of one word, one sentence or one moment in time, that maybe can influence a child's life. It's not where you start, it's where you finish and if you love what you do and you have passion, that will keep pushing you forward'.

Jill Craybas sits down with Croatian doubles players Ivan Dodig to talk about the many successes in his career and what he's learnt from over two decades at the top.

JILL CRAYBAS ON MORE HISTORY FOR NOVAK DJOKOVIC - ‘It's amazing when you start talking about all those numbers because you almost can't wrap your brain around what he's achieved. I just feel like every time he steps on the court he's breaking records and I just don't know how he finds something consistently deep in himself to do it over and over again, it's just incredible'.JILL CRAYBAS ON DANIIL MEDVEDEV - ‘He's had a great tournament. He said on the court that if Djokovic, Nadal and Federer weren't there he'd have more titles and Djokovic said that he'll get more and I agree with him, I think Medvedev will get at least a couple more, if not more than that'.JILL CRAYBAS ON BEN SHELTON - ‘He's so electric on the court, he's got a big game, huge serve, huge forehand, but to be able to tie it all together and have that consistency throughout the two weeks is a great sign for him'.JILL CRAYBAS ON CARLOS ALCARAZ'S MATURITY - ‘He's not afraid to show his vulnerability, which I think is huge because that for me is how he has been able to get over some of the losses that he has had and be able to back it up very quickly. Roland Garros was a great example admitting that the pressure and stress got to him, cramping against Djokovic and then what does he go and do, beat Djokovic in five sets at Wimbledon'.RAJEEV RAM ON BEING THE FIRST THREE-TIME SUCCESSIVE CHAMPIONS SINCE 1912 - ‘I was told in press that that was the last time that that happened. I just knew that it hadn't happened in the Open era, someone said that, but yes, 1912 is a long time ago'.JILL CRAYBAS ON COCO GAUFF WINNING THE WOMEN'S SINGLES TITLE - ‘It was amazing to watch, Coco did a great job of digging in, relying on her speed and really defending but hitting shots to make Sabalenka go for more and by the end of the match she was just playing with confidence. She's such a great role model, she just gets it and she thanked Billie Jean King on the court when she received the cheque she said that that was because of her and I thought that was a great moment'.- Podcast presented by Chris Bowers- Podcast guest Jill Craybas- Ram and Salisbury interview by Chris Bowers

Moroccan player Younes El Aynaoui speaks to Jill Craybas about his career, coaching french player Hugo Gaston and his hopes for the future.

The latest ATP Podcast with Chris Bowers and Jill Craybas. The duo look back on the first week of the US Open and ahead to week 2. As well as the studio discussion, there are also interviews and features with some of the home players hoping for a good second week, including...FRANCES TIAFOE ON HIS CAREER GOALS - 'There's only two things that I've really wanted to do in this game and you know that's to win a Grand Slam and to be top ten in the world and to be halfway done is incredible and now I've just got my eyes on the prize for that one last thing'BEN SHELTON ON ADJUSTING TO LIFE ON TOUR - ‘It's been crazy my life changing from a college kid and living in one place all the time to living in hotels around the world and being on planes every week and seeing all these new places, but I've really enjoyed it'PLUS TAYLOR FRITZ ON WHAT HE EATS, AND THE AMERICAN ALSO GOES HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH STEVE JOHNSON, ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GREAT PETE SAMPRAS- Presenter - Chris Bowers- Guest - Jill Craybas- Interviews by Jill Craybas and Candy Reid- Features by ATP Uncovered

ATP Podcast reporter Jill Craybas sits down with American J.J. to find out more about the youngster including his hopes and aspirations and thoughts on tennis as an entertainment product.

Presenter Chris Bowers is joined by former WTA player Jill Craybas to look ahead to the US Open and to discuss how the draw will impact certain players progression and whether it's Djokovic and Alcaraz against the field. As well as the studio discussion, the team also introduce interviews and features with the following...CARLOS ALCARAZ ON WHY HE'S ALWAYS SMILING - ‘I try to enjoy every moment and not only on court. Doing all this kind of stuff is part of your job as well and I try to enjoy and it's something that I really wanted as a kid to be here, so it's time to enjoy, to realise where I am and to have a smile all the time'.CASPER RUUD ON THE IMPORTANCE ON NOT JUST FOCUSSING ON GRAND SLAMS - ‘After Wimbledon I know this is the second part of the year, it's time to play well and the race for a lot of things is going to be on, so it's an exciting and hectic part of the year now with the US Open, Beijing 500, Shanghai 1000, Tokyo 500, Paris 1000, so there's a lot of points at stake and if you do well you have the chance to climb up the rankings and really finish the year in a strong way'.MIOMIR KECMANOVIC ON LEARNING FROM NOVAK DJOKOVIC - ‘I just love the way he competes on the court and fights through everything, it's really inspirational. Physically I admire that he can get to any ball and it doesn't matter where he is, that thing is going to go in no matter what and then mentally, he's just so much stronger than everybody. Nothing can get to him and the way he prepares for matches is just on another level'.- Podcast presenter - Chris Bowers- Podcast guest - Jill Craybas- Interviews by Jill Craybas and Paul King- Miomir Kecmanovic feature by ATP Media

Former World Number 4 Todd Martin speaks to Jill Craybas about his new role as Tournament Director of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati and Head of Tennis for Beemok Sports and Entertainment. Martin also opens up about what it was like to coach a young 22-year-old Novak Djokovic.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON ADAPTING TO HOT CONDITIONS - ‘When it's really warm on the hard court the heat is absorbed in the surface, so the subjective feeling on the court is 10-20 degrees higher then it is on the outside of the court, so you have to deal with all these different things, but you train for that'.TODD MARTIN ON NOVAK DJOKOVIC'S RELENTLESSNESS - 'Novak has had a couple of long stretches where I don't think anybody has been more difficult to beat. He defends better than anyone else and he has a mind, when he is focussed, that's impenetrable'.STEFANOS TSITSIPAS ON TURNING 25 - ‘I feel older obviously, wiser and much happier than I was a few years ago in terms of being out here and doing what I really love. I feel this is my home and I embrace every single bit of it'.BEN SHELTON ON FOOD - ‘It's really important for me that it's not all about counting calories because it's good to eat a lot with how much we're training as tennis players and if you can just keep it clean then you can eat as much as you want if you're eating good things that are healthy, so I'm not worried about the volume, but just how clean the food is that I put in my body'.MATTEO BERRETTINI ON GETTING OVER INJURY FROM A MENTAL PERSPECTIVE - ‘Injuries are always tough and unfortunately in my career I've had many and every time I thought I wouldn't make it and then I made it, so you have to learn how to react. Suffering a little bit and really feeling what makes you sad helps you to get better and back on track'.PLUS, DANIIL MEDVEDEV ANSWERS FANS QUESTIONS, COURTESY OF ATP UNCOVERED- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Jill Craybas, Paul King and Chris Bowers- Features by ATP Uncovered

American Mackenzie McDonald speaks to ATP Podcast reporter Jill Craybas about the lessons he's learnt since breaking through on tour.

JANNIK SINNER ON HIS INSPIRATIONS - ‘I was a skier and I know Lindsey Vonn a little bit and her career showed a lot of hard work, passion and comebacks and I also read the book of Zlatan Ibrahimovic which is also a very good story, but there are so many, LeBron James, I'm not following so much basketball, but it's so nice'.ALEX DE MINAUR NOTES TO HIS YOUNGER SELF - ‘Take it easy, don't put a lot of pressure on yourself and enjoy the moment. If you're playing these tournaments it means you have the level to play the best in the world, so just believe in yourself. Also, don't dwell on the past. Live in the present and have a memory of a goldfish, because you're going to lose a lot of tennis matches'.ALEJANDRO DAVIDOVICH FOKINA ON HIS GOALS - 'This year I want to be more stable on tour and to win more matches. I did half a year and I hope, if the first title comes, it'll be more easy for me to believe I can win a title. I have done a lot of quarter-finals and it's a little bit of a push for myself that I have to win those next two matches, so I hope that higher level is going to be more consistent'.DAVIDOVICH FOKINA'S COACH JORGE AGUIRRE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PSYCHOLOGY - 'Sport and life are the same. The key is to understand the person, Alejandro in this case, and helping him to grow, to make the days easier and understand his personality. All these players are tornados, without that it's not possible to be here, but that you should use in the right way as this energy is so strong'.GAEL MONFILS ON HIS CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE - 'To have my baby girl, it's tough for me to travel, so I'm home with her, different perspective, different goals. My priority was to best the best I can in tennis and it still is, but now my first priority is to know that my family and of course my daughter is good, feels good and then tennis is second in a way'.TOMMY PAUL ON WHAT HE EATS TO FUEL HIS BODY - ‘When I wake up the first thing I eat is an omelette, but before that, first thing's first I get my cup of coffee along with a cup of water. For coffee I'm a black drip coffee guy, but everyone makes fun of me because I don't really like fancy coffee, I can go gas station coffee and be happy'.J.J.WOLF ON HIS MOTIVATION - ‘We have a ton of athletes in my family and we have a ton of methods that we talk about, but the one similarity that we talk about is that we all have one thing that they remember before they step on court and I have a cousin who's very special, he can't talk, he was supposed to never be able to walk, so all of us were taught when we were very young is to play for those who can't'.- Podcast presenter - Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Jill Craybas, Ursin Caderas and Candy Reid- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Feature by ATP Media- Alex De Minaur & Tommy Paul features by ATP Uncovered

Canadian Milos Raonic speak to Chris Bowers about the injuries that kept him away from the game for two years.

TAYLOR FRITZ ON THE REASON FOR HIS CHARGE UP THE RANKINGS - 'My average level has gone up a lot. Before I had to be playing really good for things to come together for me to have a big week or have big wins. Now if I'm mentally turned on, I can beat a lot of players when I'm maybe not even playing my best'.GRIGOR DIMITROV ON HIS RENEWED VIGOUR - ‘I'm enjoying the sport and I'm enjoying what I'm doing and still to be up there among the top players is a great achievement, but I believe the best is still to come. I feel the youth in my legs since I've put in better results in the gym and overall I've been able to be consistent, so in a way I'm in a better position than the younger guys, because I have the experience as well'.ANDY MURRAY ON HIS MENTAL RESILIENCE - ‘I guess it's one of the benefits of going through injury that, whilst I haven't got back to the level that I wanted to, yet, I've had the opportunity to talk to other people from other sports and just being able to talk to them has been one of the positive things. A lot of fans come up to me to talk to me about that side of things as well so it's definitely motivating to me'.FRANCES TIAFOE ON HUMILITY - ‘I'm very comfortable in my own skin. I know what I overcame to even be at this point, to play at these events, so you know I'm Frances, I'm me in every room that I walk into, I'm blessed to be in the position that I am and now, being one of the best players in the world, I don't take that for granted'.FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME ON THE BIGGER PICTURE - ‘Like many young players, you're always focussed on your career and achieve more and compete and win and this year it feels funny, it feels like I didn't play as much and I had a lot of time at home to think and it gave me a nice perspective to enjoy the other parts of my life and it was a beautiful thing actually'.FREDERIC FONTANG ON ON CONFIDENCE - 'There are two parts in the confidence, the self-confidence that you need to have whatever external things happen and the other part is the more you are winning, the less hesitation you have, so you need to have both'.PLUS - DOMINIC THIEM BUILDS HIS PERFECT PLAYER, COURTESY OF ATP UNCOVERED- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Richard Connelly, Jill Craybas, Chris Bowers & Candy Reid- Thiem feature by ATP Uncovered

American Christopher Eubanks speaks to reporter Jill Craybas about his fantastic run at Wimbledon a few weeks ago and what's happened since.

In the second of our two-back-to-back specials focussing on various aspects of the game, this week Chris Bowers and Jill Craybas are joined by Australian doubles player Matt Ebden and Argentine, Francisco Cerundolo to talk about the logistics of being a player from the Southern Hemisphere having to ply their trade all over the world. Headlines are…MATT EBDEN ON LEAVING AUSTRALIA TO PLAY TENNIS - ‘When I was breaking through I was very quickly into the four month trips to the US and the six month trips to Europe, or at least two, three, four months minimum and that just became the norm. You couldn't just leave Australia and just do two or three months, the costs made it not worth it, so there were many trips that left me homesick and pretty wrecked'.FRANCISCO CERUNDOLO ON HOW SUCCESS ON COURT LEADS TO A MORE RELAXED LIFE OFF IT - ‘Once you get into the top one hundred, top fifty, it's easier because you have a calendar that's almost the same and you know in advance what you are going to play, so that's easier for us as you can arrange your life. Once you get better and improve your ranking it gets easier off the court and then on the court you feel better because you're playing bigger events, you win matches, so it's better overall'.FRANCISCO CERUNDOLO ON HIS DESIRE TO PLAY MORE TOURNAMENTS IN SOUTH AMERICA - ‘We only have two tournaments in Argentina at ATP Tour level in then in Rio and Chile, so there's almost a month you can play there and I really like it. Some players feel pressure when you play at home, but I don't feel like that. I hope we can have the Davis Cup in Argentina one day and I know now in Challengers and Futures we have more tournaments in South America, so that's super nice, so hopefully South America can keep growing up'.- Show presented by Chris Bowers and Jill Craybas- Podcast guests Matt Ebden and Francisco Cerundolo