The Tennis Podcast

Before they left Melbourne to return home following the Australian Open, David Law and Catherine Whitaker recorded another Q&A special edition of The Tennis Podcast, featuring discussion on numerous topical issues within the sport. This one is guest edited by Jim Boyle. - How long will Ivan Lendl maintain patience with Alexander Zverev? (01:25) - Where does Milos Raonic rank in the list of fav...

As we expected, Novak Djokovic is the Australian Open champion. But the manner of his victory - an emphatic straight-sets thrashing of Rafael Nadal – came as a big surprise. On The Tennis Podcast, David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Matt Roberts discuss the final in depth. What makes Djokovic so effective against Nadal on a hard court? Will he be able to translate the formula to clay and win a fourt...

After an exhilarating women’s final was won by Naomi Osaka over Petra Kvitova, David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Grad Matt revel in the brilliance of Osaka. What caused her second set wobble? And how did she manage to recover from losing that set in such crushing circumstances? How significant is it that Osaka has now won back-to-back Grand Slams? And how is she so at ease with her relatively newf...

In what’s becoming a tradition of the Grand Slam daily pods, Catherine Whitaker and David Law are joined by the great Mary Carillo for a wide-ranging, free-flowing chat over brunch. Who does Mary think will win the women’s final between Kvitova and Osaka? How impressed has she been by Rafael Nadal? Why does she think the scheduling at the Australian Open is ‘terrible’? And what three things would...

After chasing him all tournament, David Law and Catherine Whitaker are finally joined by Goran Ivanisevic in part one of today’s podcast. Goran gives an insight into life as Milos Raonic’s coach, compares Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, and explains why he’s strongly against on-court coaching. Also, what qualities are required to be a good coach? How does the feeling of winning as a coach...

After the earliest finish of the tournament so far, David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Grad Matt look back on another dramatic day, headlined by Karolina Pliskova’s victory over Serena Williams.  In what way is Karolina Pliskova’s new coaching set-up helping her? How much was Serena’s ankle injury to blame for her final set capitulation? And how much of a missed opportunity was this for Serena...

Moments after Rafael Nadal booked his semi-final spot, David Law and Catherine Whitaker got together on The Tennis Podcast to review all the day’s action. Why was Nadal so emotional about reaching the semi-finals? How did he break down Tiafoe’s game so effectively? And will he have the same joy against Tsitsipas? As for Tsitsipas, how did he find a way past Bautista Agut? How significant is it tha...

On day 8 of the Australian Open, all eyes were on Serena Williams vs. Simona Halep, and the match did not disappoint. On The Tennis Podcast, David Law and Catherine Whitaker are full of praise for both players. Was that the best Serena has played since returning from giving birth? How was she able to wrestle control in the decider? And has being without a coach actually helped to liberate Halep th...

At 02:30am in Melbourne, David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Matt get together on The Tennis Podcast to discuss a tumultuous day of tennis at the Australian Open. And there's only one place to start: Stefanos Tsitsipas’ thrilling late-night defeat of Roger Federer. What was the key to his victory? How does he manage to play with so much belief? How high was Federer’s level? And does this result sign...

Why have there barely been any upsets at this year’s Australian Open so far? That’s the big question for David, Catherine and Grad Matt on The Tennis Podcast after another day which saw the top seeds progress. There were shocks brewing in the morning as both Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina found themselves a set down. How did they pull through? Later in the day, Serena Williams and Simona Halep bo...

Shortly after Rafael Nadal had beaten Alex de Minaur on Friday night, David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Grad Matt convened to review day 5 at the Australian Open.  Is Nadal playing better than we expected? Does this result tell us anything we didn’t already know about De Minaur?  Roger Federer was also a comfortable winner on Friday. Will he have more trouble against Stefanos Tsitsipas?&...

The latest ever start to a match at the Australian Open, and one of the latest ever Tennis Podcast recordings, as David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Grad Matt got together at 12:46am, with tennis still being played, to discuss the events of Day 4 at the Australian Open. The day began with Grad Matt’s quarter-final pick Viktoria Kuzmova being beaten. What happened? Is Elina Svitolina playing better...

Dan Evans didn’t beat Roger Federer, but he pushed him hard, and did himself proud. That’s the view of David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Grad Matt on The Tennis Podcast at the end of day three at the 2019 Australian Open. How did Evans cause Federer problems? Should he have won the opening set? And how confident should we be that Evans has got his career back on track and won’t have another lapse?...

There was less drama on day two of the 2019 Australian Open, but still plenty for David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Grad Matt to talk about on The Tennis Podcast. The biggest story was Simona Halep’s comeback victory against Kaia Kanepi. Just how significant was that for Halep? What was she like when she spoke to Catherine? And can she now go far in the tournament? Halep might run into Serena Will...

We thought we’d seen it all from Andy Murray, but in what could be his final ever match, he left us spellbound once more. On The Tennis Podcast, David Law and Catherine Whitaker discuss one of the most extraordinary opening days in Grand Slam history, as Murray produced a rousing comeback in a match of unrivalled poignancy and significance. It wasn’t quite enough for him to beat Roberto Bautista-A...

With less than 24 hours to go until the start of the 2019 Australian Open, the time has come for David Law, Catherine Whitaker and Grad Matt to dissect the draws and make their predictions. There are some potentially dangerous players in Djokovic’s section, but will any of them actually stop him? How will Nadal’s body hold up? And will Zverev reach a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time? On th...

With two days to go before the 2019 Australian Open, the main story in town is still Andy Murray’s announcement that he will retire before the end of the year.  Following their immediate reaction to the news yesterday, David Law and Catherine Whitaker were joined for further reflections on Saturday by The Telegraph’s Simon Briggs. The self-proclaimed ‘Andy Murray correspondent’ has spent eigh...

Hours after David Law joined Catherine Whitaker in Melbourne, Andy Murray came into the interview room, choked up with emotion, and revealed that he could no longer play with the pain that he is experiencing while trying to play tennis. He will retire at Wimbledon, if not before. Afterwards, David and Catherine got together, and instead of dissecting the draws, they reacted to the news that so man...

The opening week of the 2019 tennis season has come and gone, and there’s a lot for David and Catherine to discuss before they set off to Melbourne for the Australian Open. The Hopman Cup once again proved a big hit. Does anyone actually want the ATP Cup to replace it next year? What makes the Hopman Cup feel more significant than other exhibitions? And shouldn’t tennis be promoting mixed team com...

The calendar hasn’t even ticked over to 2019 yet, but the new tennis season is officially here and that can only mean one thing: Catherine and David are back together on The Tennis Podcast to preview it! Most of the top players appear to be in better health than they were twelve months ago, but two men with question marks still hanging over their physical condition are Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal...

The first ever Tennis Podcast LIVE took place in London on Tuesday 11th December at Café Rouge as David and Catherine handed out their awards for the 2018 tennis season in front of an audience of Kickstarter backers and friends of the podcast.   It was a special evening, and you can now listen to the full show in podcast form!   Who was the player of the year? What was the best match? Wh...

With the support of our Kickstarter backers, 2018 has been an exciting year for The Tennis Podcast. We produced well over 100 episodes, including daily shows at all four Grand Slams, the Fever-Tree Championships, the ATP Finals, and the Davis Cup Final. We love talking about tennis, and we don't want to stop. In 2019, we want to keep the podcast going and growing, making it bigger and better than...

Croatia are Davis Cup champions for the second time after Marin Cilic clinched the decisive point to earn them a 3-1 win over France.  On The Tennis Podcast, Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts react to Sunday’s action, and look ahead to an uncertain future for the competition.  Will Marin Cilic and Borna Coric be propelled to even greater heights in 2019 following their flawl...

The 2018 Davis Cup Final will head into Sunday with the tie still in the balance after Saturday’s doubles rubber delivered a thrilling match and a crucial point for France.  On The Tennis Podcast, Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts react to Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert’s victory over Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic, and we hear from Yannick Noah who explains why he was moved...

Six sets played, six sets won by Croatia, and the chances of France winning the last Davis Cup final played using the traditional format are looking minuscule. The Tennis Podcast team of Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts, who is courtside in Lille, discuss what went on, and we hear from a happy Croatia captain - Zeljko Krajan. Has Borna Coric come of age? Is Marin Cilic over the jitte...