The Players' Lounge (Tennis Podcast)

King Carlos did it! At the end of a final where Novak Djokovic had started at full throttle, it wasCarlos Alcaraz who claimed his 7th (already!) Grand Slam title, becoming theyoungest player to complete the Career Grand Slam at 22 years old. In this episode, I break down for you: How to put your opponent under pressure right from the start of the match (Djokovic’s first set) How to take inspiratio...

The Players' Lounge podcast is back! For the first episode of Season 2, we break down the Australian Open women’s final, featuring an incredible comeback from Elena “Ice Queen” Rybakina, who captured her second Grand Slam title against Aryna Sabalenka, who was once again caught up in her old demons at the worst possible moment while trying to close out the match. In this episode, I share: How...

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆He did it. Exactly one year after being kicked out of Australia for refusing to take the vaccine against Covid-19, Novak Djokovic wins on “his turf”, the Rod Laver Arena a 10th Australian Open. Besides winning his 22nd Slam and regaining the number 1 spot, he showed once again how incredible his mental strenght is. In this episode, you will learn:  - How to have a strong start...

🏆What a start of 2023 with a great Australian Open final between Aryna Sabalenka who wins her first Grand Slam title and Elena Rybakina who proves that, 6 months after winning Wimbledon, she’s here to stay at the top of the WTA.  Here are 5 keys that helped Sabalenka win the Australian Open: - Accept the adversity and to be “boring” : learn the crucial decision Sabalenka took one week before the...

Roger Federer retired at the Laver Cup a few weeks ago and it was normal to do an episode dedicated to the Swiss giant. In this second part of this episode (the first part in at the end of the description if you have not listened to it yet), we reveal the 5 additional commandments of Roger Federer’s mental toughness:               6)High level of self-awareness and know when to make changes      ...

It might take us a while to get over Roger Federer’s retirement and Rafa Nadal’s tears after the Swiss Maestro’s last official tennis match. But instead of plunging into despair, let’s be grateful for the 24 years of highlights that will live on forever on YouTube and the unreal emotions we got from Roger. Federer’s amazing talent is a given but throughout his career, we sometimes forgot how menta...

The last Slam of the year was an instant classic! After a dull summer, Iga Swiatek won her third slam and has once more shown why she is the dominant force of the WTA. But the biggest event (apart OF COURSE from Serena’s retirement) is without a doubt the crowning of  Carlos Alcaraz who not only won his first Grand Slam but became the youngest N1 at only 19 years old. How can we explain the level...

🏆The third Grand Slam of the year is over and the least we can say is that Wimbledon 2022 was a special one! Novak Djokovic won his 4th consecutive Wimbledon and 21st Grand Slam and Elena Rybakina came back from one set down in the final to win her first Grand Slam against Ons Jabeur. Dans cet épisode, vous apprendrez les leçons que l’on peut tirer du parcours de ces différents champions : Here a...

🏆 By winning her second French Open and her 35th match in a row, Iga Swiatek has without a doubt shown that she is the undisputed boss of the WTA. Her “tour de force” is even more admirable as she has shown a real psychological domination over her opponents and a real comfort in filling the shoes of the ultra favorite. We haven’t seen this since…Serena… In this episode dedicated to “How to Win Wh...

Last week, WTA number 1 Ash #Barty shocked the world when she announced that she was retiring at 25 only a few weeks after winning her home slam at the Australian Open. 🏆 Barty is not the first player to retire young and at the top of the game. Players like Bjorn Borg or Justine Henin did it before her. Is it the end of long careers like the ones of the Big 3 or the Williams sisters. Are short-li...

😎After a flawless performance, Ash Barty clinched her 3rd slam "at home" 🏆. What stood out during the Australian Open was her undisputed dominance over her opponents. 👀👀 🎙️In this new episode, you will learn the 4 key biggest strengths of Ash Barty: 1️⃣: Use variety to control your opponent's power : Ash Barty is not the biggest hitter on the WTA tour, hitting the ball early and...

🦘The slam "down under" came to an end and we witnessed Rafa Nadal 🏆clinching his 21st Grand Slam after one of the greatest comebacks in a slam final. It really seemed that Daniil Medvedev who had a 2 sets lead was going to once again delay history. 🎙️Here are the 6️⃣ to take away from this incredible battle 🥊-Accepter the fight : Medvedev pulled a "Nadal" on Rafa himself for...

As we're heading slowly but surely toward the end of the 2021 tennis season (let's not forget about the infamous Davis Cup), one thing we can say is: what a year it was! 👨🏆Sacha Zverev's triumph at the ATP Finals in Torino is a great way to end a great season after a heartbreaking loss in the US Open final last year against Dominic Thiem. 🎙️In this episode, you will learn about th...

The "mental breakdown" of Novak Djokovic was heavily discussed these past couple of days, but little or no credit was given to Medvedev's massive performance . A true mastermind, the Russian player proved why he definitely is the frontrunner of the infamous "Next Gen" In addition to Medvedev's success, it is impossible not to comment on the historical "tour de fo...

The US Open is over and the least we can say is that it was an emotional one! From the MAJOR performance of Emma Raducanu who grabbed the title coming from the qualies to the incredible run of Leylah Fernadez, what a blast we had watching these two! But what most of us will remember is the shocking victory of Daniil Medvedev over Novak Djokovic preventing from achieving a calendar Grand Slam. In t...

Interviewing people whose purpose is to help athletes become the best version of themselves on and off the court is one of the reasons why I started The Players’ Lounge podcast. In today’s episode, I got the privilege to chat with legendary UCLA gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field, also known as “Miss Val”. From 1989 to 2019, she won 7 NCAA titles, 22 regional and 18 Pac-12 championships with he...

🎾Wimbledon is over and while Djokovic's 20th slam has put the tennis in a frenzy in a potential calendar Grand Slam, I want to focus on Ash Barty's win and why her victory is an exceptional mental performance.  In this episode you will learn: 📄What you can learn from her 24-day recovery plan after her injury at the French Open and why the perfect preparation doesn't exist  🧠The t...

As a former professional tennis player on the WTA tour, I am very grateful for the valuable lessons that I have learned and the skills that I have acquired on and off the court. As many tennis players train hard in the hopes to step on Center Court at Wimbledon one day, a lot of players and their parents face obstacles they are not prepared to deal with and prevent them from climbing the rankings...

In this second part of this episode dedicated to the lessons we can learn from the 2021 French Open (if you did not have a chance to listen to the first part that focused on the mental strategies Krejcikova and Djokovic used to have the edge over their opponents, here is the link ), we will dig into the losses of Rafael Nadal, “King of Clay” for the past 15 years and Stefanos Tsitsipas who was one...

That’s a wrap Roland Garros! And the least we can say is that the 2021 French Open was a special one! The withdrawals of Naomi Osaka and Roger Federer were definitely a shock in the first week of the slam. In the second week, the legendary semi final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, the surprising but very refreshing victory of Barbora  Krejcikova and the great comeback of Djokovic to win...

Coaches play a huge role in the tennis, yet,  we don’t often have the opportunity to hear about their experience on tour and how they help players to reach the top. In this episode, I had the pleasure to interview Emma Doyle, world class tennis coach who coached top juniors and many players on tour.  Emma is Australian, she’s a high performance tennis coach, a TEDx speaker and Global speaker in te...

“He/she knows vs he/she doesn't know how to deal with pressure on big points”. How often do we hear these sentences from commentators while watching matches or from people watching us playing from the sidelines? A lot. But how often do we hear people talk about the reason why players feel pressure and why do most of us hate pressure? Not much. As if dealing with pressure was something you wer...

Making a successful  transition from juniors to the pros is something a lot of tennis players struggle with. One of the keys to succeed in this transition is to have the right team to help you reach your goals. Vlado Platenik, a former tennis player from Slovakia has been a very successful coach who over the 20 years he spent coaching on tour, he took 4 players from the ITF circuit to top 20 WTA a...

How often do we hear stories about the so-called “crazy tennis parents”? A lot. But how often do we discuss the struggles tennis parents encounter or the tips and tools they can use to help their children reach their full potential? Not so much. In this episode of The Players’ Lounge, my guest Hernan Chousa shares his expertise on this topic. Hernan Chousa is an author and public speaker. He lives...

Since the resumption of the ATP WTA circuits, several players have spoken publicly about their difficulties dealing with the new sanitary restrictions on tour due to the covid pandemic. If Benoît Paire stirred a lot of controversy with his recent poor performances on court and controversial statements, it seems that more and more players seem to mentally struggle with navigating the "tennis b...