John McEnroe has spent nearly five decades at the center of professional tennis — as a Grand Slam champion, world No. 1, rival, commentator and one of the most recognizable personalities the sport has ever produced.

In this episode of Tennis Insider Club, McEnroe joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Durán for a candid conversation about what life at the top really feels like.

He reflects on the pressure he experienced from a young age, why controlling his emotions on court was so difficult, and why even winning often brought little satisfaction before his attention immediately shifted to the next challenge.

McEnroe also opens up about becoming a father, stepping away from the tour, and the difficult transition athletes face when tennis has become such a large part of their identity.

The conversation explores Björn Borg’s sudden departure from the sport, the rivalries that defined McEnroe’s career, and why contrasting personalities remain so important to tennis today. McEnroe shares his perspective on Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz — including why Alcaraz’s ability to appear genuinely happy under enormous pressure fascinates him.

Caroline also reflects on her own experience of retirement and the years when her results became inseparable from how she saw herself, leading to an unusually open exchange between two generations of Grand Slam champions.

They also discuss:

• Why McEnroe believes young players are pushed too hard

• The role parents play in creating — or destroying — a healthy relationship with tennis

• Why he encourages children to play multiple sports

• The difficulty of separating self-worth from results

• Why retirement rarely happens the way athletes imagine

• How becoming a parent changed McEnroe’s perspective

• Why personality and rivalry matter to the future of tennis

• What McEnroe would do differently looking back

A conversation about winning, pressure, anger, identity and learning how to live with — and eventually beyond — professional tennis.

Hosted by Caroline Garcia and Borja Durán.

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Jessica Pegula watched players her age break through while injuries repeatedly interrupted her own career. After years outside the top 100, she began to wonder: “Is this not meant to be?”

In this episode of The Insight, Jessica reveals why arriving later ultimately became one of her greatest strengths.

She opens up about the injuries and comparisons that tested her belief, the moment she decided to take complete ownership of her career, and how building the right team helped transform her trajectory. She also explains why the calm exterior people see on court doesn’t always reflect what she is feeling—and why trying to manufacture emotion only made competing more exhausting.

Jessica speaks candidly about becoming too focused on results, the burnout that followed, and how small goals—improving a kick serve or developing a drop shot—helped her rediscover the satisfaction of the craft.

She also reflects on finally overcoming the Grand Slam “barrier” and reaching the US Open final, only to discover how quickly professional tennis moves on to the next match. Her biggest realization: success isn’t a single destination. The dream is the journey itself—the difficult weeks, the strange losses, the people beside you and the stories you collect along the way.

This is an honest conversation about comparison, emotional authenticity, late success and learning to build a career that truly belongs to you.

CHAPTERS

00:00 “Is this not meant to be?”

02:20 Escaping the comparison trap

04:00 Why succeeding later helped Jessica

05:00 Taking control of her own career

08:20 What years of injuries gave her

09:45 The truth behind her calm exterior

13:05 Results, burnout and rediscovering improvement

16:10 Breaking the Grand Slam “barrier”

19:15 Why success disappears so quickly

21:00 Learning to stop and appreciate it

22:00 “The dream is the journey”

23:10 Jessica’s advice to her younger self

24:10 Why the worst weeks become the best stories

If Jessica’s story resonated with you, share this episode with someone who feels like their breakthrough is taking too long.

Subscribe to Tennis Insider Club for revealing conversations with the people shaping professional tennis.

What part of Jessica’s journey changed how you think about success? Let us know in the comments.

#JessicaPegula #WTA #Tennis

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Mark Knowles has spent his life around some of the greatest players in tennis — first as a player alongside Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Pete Sampras, and now as a coach working with Jessica Pegula.

In this episode, Mark joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Durán for a deeply honest conversation about what actually separates talented players from the ones who reach their full potential.

Mark reflects on why he believes he underachieved in singles, how perfectionism hurt his career, and why he now tells players: “Do not chase perfection.”

He also opens up about coaching Jessica Pegula — why her team spent nearly a year convincing her to practice less, why elite players sometimes need less information rather than more, and how they are trying to help her take the final step toward winning a Grand Slam.

The conversation also turns to one of the most sensitive subjects in tennis: parents.

Mark explains why he believes players cannot reach their full potential until they establish the right relationship with their parents, leading Caroline to reflect openly on how her own father’s involvement affected her confidence, independence and decision-making.

They also discuss Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, player development, burnout, confidence, and why some of the hardest moments in a tennis career can become the ones you miss most once it is over. 

Chapters:

00:00 Tennis parents, confidence & “I hated tennis”

00:44 Growing up in the Bahamas

01:45 Nick Bollettieri discovers Mark

03:00 Life inside the Bollettieri academy

05:20 Believing he could become World No. 1

06:35 Why Mark feels he underachieved

08:25 Caroline on struggling with confidence

11:25 Becoming a coach

13:40 How Mark started working with Jessica Pegula

15:05 Do champions need delusional confidence?

15:45 Why talent is overrated

16:30 “Do not chase perfection”

18:40 Caroline’s regret about not celebrating

19:20 Mark’s Grand Slam regrets

20:00 Teaching Pegula to celebrate winning

24:15 Why Jessica Pegula practiced too much

25:00 Convincing Pegula to train less

26:40 The problem with tennis parents

28:35 Caroline opens up about her father

29:45 Andy Roddick’s conversation with his dad

35:00 How a coach earns a player’s trust

36:30 Why Pegula focuses on improvement, not ranking

38:00 Why Pegula wants less information

40:00 Coaching a player trying to win a Grand Slam

42:45 Should players practice on Slam off-days?

44:55 Mark’s advice to young players

47:00 Why Jannik Sinner barely played juniors

49:00 Why reaching the top too young can hurt players

50:20 Alcaraz and building a complete game

50:50 How Nadal transformed his game

52:30 Caroline on what she wishes she had developed

53:45 How Federer, Nadal, Djokovic & Sinner kept evolving

57:00 Friendship and rivalry on tour

58:00 Why Caroline struggled to connect with players

59:00 How tennis locker rooms have changed

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Ryan Harrison joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Duran for a deep dive into what elite tennis coaching actually looks like — and why some of the most common advice players receive may not help them at all.

Now coaching Sebastian Korda, Ryan takes us inside the process of helping a player navigate pressure, setbacks and the biggest moments. He explains how Korda went from losing five straight points from 5–2 up in a deciding tiebreak against Taylor Fritz to handling the pressure differently weeks later against Carlos.

Ryan also reflects on his own experience as a teenage prodigy, winning an ATP match at just 15, dealing with expectations and injuries, and what he wishes he had understood much earlier in his career.

We get into why players can become obsessed with results instead of improvement, why tennis practice is often too generic, how players should actually choose a coach, and why telling someone to simply “be aggressive” means very little unless you can explain how.

Ryan also turns coach for Caroline, breaking down how he would approach a match against Danielle Collins, before discussing parents in tennis, team dynamics, data, on-court coaching and his relationship with his brother Christian Harrison.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Ryan Harrison’s tennis upbringing & being coached by his dad

01:18 Winning an ATP match at 15: when tennis became real

02:07 Pressure, plateaus & the prodigy trap

08:00 How Ryan’s parents helped him handle the pressure

12:09 What Ryan wishes he understood as a player

15:26 Injuries, COVID & how adversity shaped him as a coach

19:08 Korda vs Fritz → Carlos: learning how to close

21:17 Coaching men vs women

23:42 How Ryan would coach Caroline against Danielle Collins

27:38 Why tennis practice is often too generic

29:52 Stop chasing immediate results

35:23 How tennis players should choose a coach

40:12 On-court coaching, trust & solving matches in real time

43:19 Why “be aggressive” means nothing

45:07 How Ryan uses data without overwhelming players

48:30 What he would tell a 15-year-old prodigy today

50:26 Parents in tennis: knowing when to step back

55:47 Christian Harrison: from sibling rivalry to unconditional support

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Why do tennis players lose matches they should win?

Legendary coach and former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert breaks down the tactics, mindset and tiny margins that separate winning from losing — with lessons from coaching Andre Agassi and insights on Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Caroline Garcia.

Brad explains why he once told Agassi, “I never beat you. You lost to yourself,” and how changing the way Andre thought about risk helped transform his results.

In this episode of The Insight, Brad reveals:

• Why hitting more winners doesn’t necessarily mean playing better tennis

• The mistake players make when a game plan stops working

• Why you shouldn’t change a winning strategy until your opponent forces you to

• How just 5–7 points can decide an entire match

• What Roger Federer’s 53% of points won teaches us about greatness

• The tactic Andre Agassi hated — even while it was helping him win

• Why Novak Djokovic is so effective in pressure moments and tiebreaks

• How elite players prepare before a Grand Slam

• Why one bad match can never be allowed to become five

Brad Gilbert built his career around understanding how to win — even when winning doesn’t look pretty. This is a masterclass in playing smarter, managing risk and trusting your strengths when the pressure is highest.

CHAPTERS

00:00 “You lost to yourself” — Brad on Andre Agassi

02:00 Why Caroline Garcia plays “massively risky”

03:20 When your game plan isn’t working

05:00 Don’t change a winning hand

06:30 The tiny margins that decide tennis matches

07:20 Federer won only 53% of his points

08:15 The statistic Brad changed with Agassi

10:00 Why great players need to adapt

11:45 The tactic Andre Agassi hated

13:30 How to play under pressure

15:00 Why Djokovic is so good in tiebreaks

17:00 Greatness happens in practice

18:00 You don’t need to beat the whole draw

19:00 How champions approach Grand Slams

22:15 The matches that determine your ranking

If you enjoy conversations that go beyond the headlines and inside the minds of the people who know professional tennis best, subscribe to Tennis Insider Club.

#BradGilbert #AndreAgassi #Tennis #TennisTips #WinningUgly #NovakDjokovic #RogerFederer #CarolineGarcia

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Can a parent also be the coach? And can perfectionism create greatness without destroying the person?

Former world No. 3 and Roger Federer’s former coach Ivan Ljubicic joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Duran for an honest conversation about tennis parents, junior development, elite coaching and the hidden cost of becoming one of the best.

Ivan explains why parents should be responsible for developing the human being—not coaching the tennis player—and how even a small expression of doubt can undermine a child’s relationship with their coach. He discusses parents who project their own ambitions, the difficult transition toward independence, and why a parent can never fully occupy both roles.

They also explore why results should not be the objective, how Jannik Sinner focuses on constant improvement, why junior success can be misleading, and what players should value when choosing a coach.

Ivan then reveals what made Roger Federer so professional and coachable, how Federer treated the people around him, and why the greatest players never stop adding new tools to their game.

In this episode:

• The biggest mistakes tennis parents make

• How to raise an ambitious but independent young athlete

• Why results are outside a player’s control

• The relationship between perfectionism, success and happiness

• How to choose the right coach

• Why player and coach must share the same ambition

• The danger of becoming successful too young

• How elite tennis teams are built

• What players can learn from Roger Federer

• Why players must take ownership of their careers

Can a parent successfully be both the parent and the coach? Share your perspective in the episode comments.

Follow Tennis Insider Club for more honest conversations with the greatest players, coaches and minds in tennis.

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Ben Shelton did not seriously choose tennis until he was 11. His father and coach, Bryan Shelton, reveals how he helped build Ben’s extraordinary confidence—without controlling him, limiting his personality or coaching the talent out of him.

From setting his own alarm for 6 a.m. practices to leaving college early and eventually asking his father to join him on tour, Ben’s journey was built around responsibility, independence and belief.

Bryan explains why he only gives Ben “five or ten percent” of what he knows, why he smiles from the player box even when things are going badly, and why parents should ask more questions instead of constantly telling young athletes what to do.

This is The Insight: the most powerful lessons from our complete conversation with Bryan Shelton.

Watch the full Bryan Shelton episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JOp69bDfkg

CHAPTERS

00:00 Ben Didn’t Want to Play Tennis

01:24 The 6 A.M. Practice Rule

02:08 Developing the Person, Not Just the Player

03:05 Ben’s Unusual Confidence

04:18 Don’t Put Him in a Box

05:18 Raising the Floor Without Lowering the Ceiling

06:22 Keep Making the Right Mistakes 07:48 Why Ben Left College Early

10:23 “Dad, You Have to Come Out Here With Me”

10:50 Balancing Being a Father and Coach

12:12 Why Bryan Only Gives Ben 10%

12:54 Why Bryan Always Smiles

13:58 What Parents Project From the Player Box

15:24 Confidence Before Results

17:18 Bryan’s Advice to Parents

19:18 The Lesson Every Sports Parent Should Hear

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Subscribe for honest conversations with the players, coaches and people shaping professional tennis.

#BenShelton #Tennis #TennisInsiderClub

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Corentin Moutet is known for playing—and reacting—differently. But behind the emotional moments and public labels is a player trying to understand why losing once felt unbearable, why tennis celebrates personality and then punishes it, and how to find peace in a sport he still loves.

In this honest conversation with Caroline Garcia and Borja Durán, Corentin explains why he never learned how to lose, how winning became connected to his self-worth, why he struggled to control his emotions, and what facing Carlos Alcaraz revealed about his game.

He also opens up about being misunderstood as lazy, the freedom he finds through music, his unique relationship with Roland-Garros, why he believes tennis culture must evolve, and the goal that matters more to him than rankings or money: finding peace before his career ends.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Why Moutet couldn’t stop breaking rackets

01:00 Growing up with tennis as a game

06:00 The origins of his unique playing style

08:00 Why he never learned how to lose

13:00 Anger, rackets and emotional control

15:00 When winning became personal worth

21:00 The mentality hurting professional athletes

23:00 Tennis promotes personality—then punishes it

27:00 What Carlos Alcaraz exposed in his game

33:00 Unlearning childhood beliefs

36:00 Music, balance and being misunderstood

44:00 Why Roland-Garros feels like home

47:00 Why tennis culture must change

49:00 “Tennis is boring” and the ATP contradiction

52:00 His goals beyond results

56:00 Finding peace before retirement

Tennis Insider Club is where the people who have lived professional tennis share the stories and lessons fans rarely get to hear.

Subscribe for more honest, player-to-player conversations from inside the tour.

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tennis-insider-club/id1721351881

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Tim Henman joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Durán to discuss Wimbledon pressure, prize money, family legacy and what success really means.

A former World No.4 and four-time Wimbledon semifinalist, Tim opens up about growing up with Wimbledon in his family, carrying British expectations, the debate around Grand Slam prize money, and why tennis needs better communication between players and tournaments. Caroline, Borja and Tim also explore parenting, pressure, respect, success beyond winning, and how the sport can build a healthier future.

Follow Tennis Insider Club for unfiltered conversations with the world’s best tennis players, coaches and insiders.

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Marta Kostyuk’s coach Sandra Zaniewska joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Duran on Tennis Insider Club for a deep conversation about emotions, pressure, coaching, parents, data, recovery and what it really takes to build a top tennis player.

Sandra shares how she went from professional player to coach, what she learned from working with Petra Martić and Alizé Cornet, and how she built a long-term relationship with Marta Kostyuk. She explains why she loves emotional players, why the goal is not to get rid of emotions, and how Marta is learning to turn them into strength.

They also discuss the pressure of winning titles, the difference between being an underdog and a top seed, why Sandra does not set ranking goals, how she uses data to measure progress, how players can recover mentally during a long WTA season, and why tennis parents need more education and support.

This episode is for Marta Kostyuk fans, tennis coaches, tennis parents, junior players, WTA fans, and anyone interested in elite sport, mental performance and high performance.

This episode is sponsored by IM8.

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Try IM8 here: https://iam8health.com/discount/TIC

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tennis-insider-club/id1721351881

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: emotions, parents and coaching

00:42 How Sandra Zaniewska started playing tennis

02:20 Why you don’t need to start tennis at age three

03:00 Retiring as a player and becoming a coach

04:05 IM8 Daily Essentials ad

05:20 From player to coach: the transition

06:30 Coaching Petra Martić and learning on the job

08:00 Petra Martić’s French Open quarterfinal and Sandra’s breakthrough moment

09:15 Why coach-player splits feel like breakups

11:00 Learning to coach different personalities

12:00 How to start with a new player and build trust

14:00 Joining a team and working with staff

14:40 Coaching Marta Kostyuk under pressure

17:00 Why Sandra loves emotional players

19:15 The pressure of being an underdog vs a top seed

22:00 What happens after winning a title

23:15 Managing expectations after big success

24:00 Marta Kostyuk’s “princess treatment” at Roland Garros

25:20 Why Marta skipped Rome

26:00 Mental recovery and protecting the player

27:00 Why Sandra told Marta to consider stopping her season

29:00 Giving players space outside tennis

30:30 Learning when not to play

32:00 The ranking trap and outside pressure

33:30 What parents misunderstand in junior tennis

35:00 Why tennis parents need more education

36:00 Sandra’s advice to parents of young players

38:30 Parents living through their children

40:30 Why players must enjoy the journey

42:30 What really changed before Marta Kostyuk’s breakthrough

45:00 Why Sandra doesn’t set ranking goals

46:30 Using data to prove progress

48:15 How long should a coach-player relationship last?

49:45 The stats Sandra uses with Marta Kostyuk

51:00 Scouting opponents and choosing the right tools

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