We celebrate Episode 200 of the Doubles Only Podcast with a live webinar where I answered your questions. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and joined live 😀 Topics covered included... Offensive vs defensive court positioning at the net. How to end or win the lob wars. Differences between volleys in singles & doubles. How to best train vol…

6-time grand slam coach Wim Fissette joins us on the Functional Tennis Podcast to chat about his coaching career. Wim set a high standard for himself winning 3 out of the first 6 slams he coached at. Wim worked with some of the best players in the past 15 years such as Kim Clijsters, Sabine Lisicki, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka, Johanna Konta, A…

I recently released a 3-part doubles lesson on the most important volley in doubles... the Serve +1 volley. You can watch all 3 lessons below. This episode covers the serve +1 volley in even more detail, including my response to several Facebook and Instagram comments on the lessons. You'll learn how to practice the serve +1 volley, the different t…

Ellen Perez is world number 11 on the WTA Doubles Tour, with seven career titles. In this interview, Ellen shares her tennis journey, WTA doubles serve, return, volley, groundstroke, rankings, and more. Here are a few topics we dive into: Learn the benefits of returning with backhands in the middle, which Ellen and her partner, Nicole Melichar-Mart…

Today I speak to 23-year-old US College graduate Lulu Sun who has had an impressive run since graduating from the University Of Texas. In only 1 year of College Tennis, she rose to number 3 in the rankings and over the past 12 months on the WTA tour she has risen from no.210 to her current ranking of no.40. We chat about her early junior days, the …

Tony Huber is the former coach of multiple doubles world #1 players including Liezel Huber, Martina Navratilova, Cara Black, Lisa Raymond, Ai Sugiyama, Latisha Chan, and Sonia Mirza. Today he coaches adult club-level players and I absolutely love his approach to the game. This is one of those conversations that you'll want to listen to multiple tim…

Part 2 of the 2024 Functional Tennis Racket of the year breakdown with Jonas Eriksson (aka Tennisnerd). We chat about round 2 and 1/4's results as well as a semi final previewa Jonas is one of the leading racket experts and puts out great reviews on his YouTube channel which you can see here. Head over to the Functional Tennis Instagram stories to …

This is an AMA episode where I cover three questions from you. I chose these doubles topics because they haven't been covered on the podcast before. How to use the swinging volley in doubles. What is the proper technique when faking at the net? How can you improve at doubles when most coaches focus on singles? If you have other questions you'd like…

The racket of the year is back and Jonas Eriksson (aka Tennisnerd) jumps on to chat about results from round 1 and previews round 2. Jonas is one of the leading racket experts and puts out great reviews on his YouTube channel which you can see here. Head over to the Functional Tennis Instagram stories to get voting. Finally a shoutout to Tennis War…

Fabio Molle is the founder of Functional Tennis, a company that created products to help tennis players improve. Their Saber is one of the only training tools that I use and highly recommend to doubles players. In this episode, Fabio shares the story of the Functional Tennis Saber, how it is made, and why so many pro-level players are using it incl…

For the strategy nerds... Jonathan Stokke joins the show for a second time as we discuss his Stokke Six. What are the Stokke Six? Simply put, they are errors to avoid that will dramatically improve your game. And I mean dramatically. Jonathan and I could talk strategy and tactics for days. He's one of my favorite coaches because of his ability to s…

In episode 235 of the Functional Tennis Podcast, I sit down with Sandra Zaniewska, coach of WTA Top 20 player Marta Kostyuk. Sandra, a former pro herself with wins over the likes of Ons Jabeur and Ash Barty, transitioned into coaching at a young age and has since worked with top names like Petra Martic and Alizé Cornet. Sandra shares her journey fr…

🎾🥈 Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram won an Olympic Silver medal for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics. I spoke with them a few weeks after the Olympics to hear about their experience in Paris, beating Rafael Nadal & Carlos Alcaraz, working with the Bryan Bros, and more. We talked about how difficult it was to close out their quarterfinal match against Na…

I chatted with pro doubles strategist Will Boucek. Will works with numerous ATP/WTA doubles pros, and USTA and helps amateurs improve their doubles. We chat about how Will got into doubles strategy and created a niche for himself, patterns he has noticed, analysing Carlos and Rafa as doubles players as well as tips and tactics for doubles players. …

This is a post-match interview with Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin from the National Bank Open in Toronto. We spoke with them after a very close victory where they saved six match points. Bethanie and Sonya share insights into their strategies and conversations during the match, including how they stayed positive when down a set and a break.…

Aldila Sutjiadi is the 37th-ranked doubles player on the WTA Tour. Born in Indonesia and 2x doubles All-American at Kentucky, Aldila has a fascinating story. Tennis Tribe writer, Hanlon Walsh and I spoke with her on the grounds at the National Bank Open in Toronto. We discussed her story, how and why she plays with doubles partners with contrasting…

Team USA finished with two doubles medals at the Olympics. Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek won Silver while Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz took home Bronze. In this episode, I share three more lessons I learned providing strategy and scouting analysis for Team USA. How to beat Nadal & Alcaraz. The Andy Murray tendency. The two most important shots in d…

The Olympics are underway, and Team USA is off to a great start in doubles. In this episode, I share 3 lessons I've learned from scouting and analyzing data & video for Team USA over the past week. Who should be using the lob return? Why you need to be experimenting earlier and more often than you think. How to handle a BIG forehand. No matter whic…

Former top Junior and College Tennis player Govind Nanda joins me on the podcast. Govind has left University and is making a push back up the rankings where during his College days at UCLA he got to a high of 339 ATP which is impressive for a College tennis player. He chats about his early tennis days, the decision to play college tennis, training …

Bruce Lipka is the coach of WTA #1 doubles player, Erin Routliffe. He has coached over twenty top 100 ATP and WTA players, won USPTA Tour Coach of the Year three times, and now is the head men's coach at Penn State. Erin has improved immensely under Bruce's coaching, and it's something I've personally noticed since watching Erin over the past few y…

Today I chatted to Justin Van Malderen, 3rd generation in the Luxilon family business. Luxilon manufactures great strings used by many top pros. Justin tells us all about the Luxlilon beginnings, who owns the company, how strings are made, what % of the top pros use Luxilon and more. I hope you enjoy this episode Fabio This podcast is sponsored by …

This episode covers three lessons I learned from watching the men's doubles final at Wimbledon as well as a private lesson that made me sad... Return team lesson - If you're having trouble breaking serve, you might be making one of these two mistakes. Serving on a fast court - How should your serve tactics change on grass? or a fast indoor hard cou…

I dug through the audio archives and found my chat with Wimbledon Finalist Jasmine Paolini when she was a top 70-ranked player only a few years ago. She talks about what's needed to be 1% better every day, patience, challenges along the way and the struggle to qualify for slams!! It’s a short but insightful partner. Hope you enjoy Fabio This podcas…

James Cerretani is a former ATP doubles player with a career-high ranking of #45 in the world. He won four ATP doubles titles, made the Wimbledon quarterfinals twice, and played college tennis at Brown where he is in their Hall of Fame. James joined the team of Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic earlier this year to help improve their performance. I sp…

Storm Hunter is one of the best doubles players on the WTA tour over the last several seasons. She's a Wimbledon finalist (2023), world #1, and US Open mixed doubles champion (2022). Unfortunately, the 2024 season was cut short for Storm as she suffered a torn Achilles in April. I spoke with her from Australia in June as she continues rehab. We dis…

I speak to Irish former pro Conor Niland who has just released a book called The Racket which documents his tennis journey from the first time he picked up a racket until retirement. Conor reached a career-high ATP 129 and made Grand Slam appearances. He recites many stories from all aspects of his journey from the junior Irish circuit, going to bo…

Marcelo Arevalo is a top 10 doubles player on the ATP Tour who recently won Roland Garros for the second time in three years. In this episode, he shares his experience winning the French Open again. One of the things that makes tennis so difficult is the sustained focus required to win. This can create mental fatigue and stress. Marcelo doesn't dan…

Paul McNamee is one of the best doubles players AND doubles coaches of all time. He has four men's doubles major titles, plus a Wimbledon mixed title. Today, he's best known for being the mastermind coach behind one of the best and most entertaining doubles players in today's game, Hsieh Su-wei. Paul joined me as the grass court season was just get…

Angela Kulikov is a WTA doubles player with a career-high ranking of 57 in the world. She played college tennis at USC where she was the #1 doubles player in the country. She joins me from California as she rehabs an ankle injury. We discussed her wide array of hobbies including flag football, coaching tennis, and now, golf. She shares her path to …

Mini episode this week with current WTA number 63 Diane Parry. I met Diane at the Asics Rally for Your Mind event in central Paris. We discussed: Playing in Paris as Parisian Her 1 handed backhand Advice for parents/players The best advice she has received Louis Rouach who runs event activations for Asics also tells us about the Rally for Your Mind…

Greg Moran has coached tennis for over 45 years and specializes in the recreational player. He's a member of the Wilson Advisory Staff, the Cardio Tennis National Speaker's Team, and the USTA's Coach Developer program. He's also written several books and in this conversation we discuss his latest, The Truth About Tennis: The Definitive Guide for th…

Today I chat with former pro and entrepreneur Peter Clarke. Peter was a fiery Irish promising tennis who quickly reached an ATP ranking of 229. Retiring quite young today, he got into coaching and soon after set up multiple successful businesses. He talks about growing up in Australia, his tennis days, some good anecdotes and his most recent projec…

Watching pro doubles can 100% help you improve your own game, regardless of your skill level. Here are 5 things to look for when watching ATP or WTA doubles live or on TV. In between the points. Formations and variety. Net position, movement, court coverage, & shot selection. Baseline... When they MISS! If you're not currently watching pro doubles,…

Over the past six months, I've closely studied net players at every level of tennis. One of the most difficult concepts to teach is where the your eyes should be at the net. This episode covers where to focus your eyes and what to look for when you're at the net. Almost no club-level players get this right because it goes against our natural tenden…

I chatted to Italian coach Andrea Ramundo who I met at the IMG Future Stars Event. Andrea works with promising Italian Juniors, Ilary Pistola, Tommaso Panto and Pietro Marinelli. We discuss Coaching Journey Italian Tennis Federation What he learned at the IMG Future Stars Event Working for free for 1 year with his mentor Jofre Porta Member of Team …

Murphy Jensen is the 1993 French Open doubles champion, tennis coach, cardiac arrest survivor, mental health advocate, keynote speaker, co-founder of WEconnect, TV host, and the most impactful guest we've ever had on the Doubles Only Podcast. This episode is not about doubles. It's far more important. Murphy suffered from depression and addiction w…

I'm just back from the IMG Future Stars event in Greece where I saw some of the world's best 12 years in action. Last year I did a special episode on 14 things that make these kids special, this year I decided to change it up and better understand the journey these kids are on. What stood out is how hard it is, you probably already know this but I …

Three lessons that will improve your mental game on the doubles court. There's obviously a huge difference between pro and club-level doubles players. While we can't emulate their 120 MPH serves, we can absorb their mindset. These three lessons from my new Masterclass have helped me more than any others over the last several years and I know they'l…

This week I caught up with Peter Hemanns, the tennis product manager at Asics. Peter tells us about His Role What's new with my favourite shoe the Solution Speed 3 If any updates on the Resolution and Court FF Did he know about Dimitrov wearing Asics Technology in their clothes The Asics Paris and London House If you are a listener to the shoe you …

Doubles is a TEAM sport. You have to not only worry about playing well yourself but also need to know how to get the most out of your partner. This episode covers several things you can do to support your doubles partner so they play their best! Three conversations to have with your partner before the match starts. One thing that is proven to help …

This episode covers three new lessons I've learned recently while coaching a high school team. These players are around the USTA 3.0 to 4.0 level. How to think about attacking the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. A tactic that worked for one of my doubles teams in windy conditions. How I structured approach plus volley drills, and why. Si…

In a few days, I'm off to Greece for the IMG Future Stars which brings together 48 of the World's best boys and girls along with their parents and coaches. I get to spend the week with them observing, learning and interacting with them. We've many new listeners and this was one of our top episodes into 2023 so I thought this was a timely episode to…

Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers are one of the most accomplished doubles pairings of the last five years on the ATP Tour. I spoke with them in Miami after their second-round win. We discussed their 7-5 6-3 win which Horacio said was one of their "best matches this year." They faced two players whom they've faced many times, Mate Pavić and Ma…

Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram are 3-time reigning US Open Champions. I spoke with them in Miami after their second round 7-5 7-6 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Thanassi Kokkinakis. Adam Ross from Florida Tennis joined me for this interview. We asked the US Open champs about the match, including a specific tactic they kept going to that I picked…

Elise Mertens is the 2nd ranked doubles player on the WTA tour. She has four major titles including the 2024 Australian Open. I spoke with Elise in Miami after her 1st round victory. We talk about that match, practicing for singles vs doubles, and how she and Hsieh Su-wei adjust to different opponents. Elise also shares why focusing on your good po…

I am excited to have David Norrie on the show this week talking to guest host Dave O'Hare. David is the Dad of British number 1 and career-high ATP no.8 Cam Norrie. David chats about : The early days in New Zealand Building character Being a tennis parent is not easy Not specialising too early and more. I hope you enjoy the episode. Fabio This podc…

Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektić have been one of the best doubles teams on the ATP Tour in 2024. They've won three titles so far, including Indian Wells, and I spoke with them in Miami after their first-round win. We talked about the match, their 10-point tiebreaker success, how they handle pressure & nerves (they each deal with it differently), a…

Coaching great Brad Stine joins guest host Dave O'Hare on this week's episode. Brad Stine is the current coach of US Number 1 Tommy Paul and has worked with greats such as Jim Courier, Mardy Fish, Kevin Anderson and more. He chats about: The imposter syndrome as a young coach You can't Bullsh*t tennis players Be the best at teaching fundamentals St…

Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia (Sonya) Kenin won the 2024 Miami Open. I spoke with them after their 2nd round victory in Miami for about 10 minutes. Bethanie & Sonya deliver some fantastic doubles strategy tips throughout this conversation, so listen carefully. We discuss: Their first two victories, including what adjustments they had to make. How…

Rohan Bopanna won the Australian Open earlier this year, reached #1 in the world, and turned 44 years old on March 4th. I spoke with Rohan at the Miami Open after his round 1 victory. He and his partner, Matt Ebden, won that match in a third set after dropping the first. We discuss adjustments he made to turn it around. I also asked Rohan how he sp…