The Functional Tennis Podcast

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

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

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

On this week’s episode, I meet Michael Logarzo to discuss the art of coaching with Michael Logarzo. Michael is a top tennis coach based in Australia and has worked with a range of players from juniors just beginning their tennis journey - to established tennis professionals like Zoe Hives. In our conversation, Michael explains why one of the keys to being a great coach is having a broad range of k...

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

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

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

We are back with Irish player Conor Gannon this week in the 3rd part of our mini-series with him while he is on his College Tennis Journey at the University of Memphis. We have a general catchup with a chat about Davis Cup, adjusting to college life, improvements, mental work and the plan for the rest of the year. To listen to our previous episodes with Conor tap the links below Episode 1 Episode...

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

This week I chat with Fred Gil, the former Portuguese number1 and career-high ATP 61 who recently became the men's 35's worlds singles champ. We chat about his career, challenges along the way, what he is up to now and how he will always be a competitor. Hope you enjoy the episode. Fabio Have you seen the Functional Tennis Saber? Check it out here and don't miss the video of Stan Wawrinka crushing...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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