Tennis Insider Club with Caro Garcia

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
Use code TIC at checkout for 10% off your first order.

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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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Eugenie Bouchard returns to Tennis Insider Club for one of her most honest conversations yet.

After reaching the Wimbledon final at 20, becoming one of the most talked-about players in tennis, and carrying the pressure of expectation for years, Genie opens up about why she really decided to retire.

In this episode, she talks with Caroline Garcia and Borja Duran about the emotional cost of elite tennis, the pressure to repeat her 2014 breakthrough, the criticism she received for building a life beyond the court, the injuries she played through, and the strange freedom that came once she finally said: this is the end.

Genie explains that she did not retire because she could no longer play. She still knew she could compete. But the demands of giving everything to tennis left little room for anything else in life. She also reflects on the mental spiral after difficult losses, how negative self-talk can become dangerous, and why being famous so young is much harder than people imagine.

This is a conversation about retirement, but also about identity, ambition, sacrifice, fame, pressure, and learning to define success on your own terms.

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Before what is expected to be his final Roland Garros, Gaël Monfils opens up about one of the biggest misconceptions of his career: that it was ever just about the show.
For years, fans saw the smile, the energy, the jumping smashes, the tweeners, and the impossible athleticism. But behind all of that, Gaël says there was always one thing first: the desire to win.
In this short episode, Gaël reflects on the pressure of being called a “showman,” why his spectacular style came naturally to him, the sacrifices behind a long career, the weight of comparison, and why enjoying the journey has been essential to surviving more than two decades at the highest level.
As he prepares for his last Roland Garros before retiring at the end of the season, this is a tribute to one of tennis’ most beloved players — in his own words.
This episode is sponsored by IM8.
🔗 Try IM8 and get 10% off your first order → im8health.com/discount/TIC
Use code TIC at checkout.
🎧 Follow Tennis Insider Club for more honest conversations with the biggest names in tennis.
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Madison Keys joins us for one of the most honest conversations we’ve had on Tennis Insider Club.

After years of being told she would win a Grand Slam, Madison opens up about the pressure that followed her from a very young age, the weight of expectations, and the painful thought that no matter how much she had achieved, her career might still feel incomplete without a Slam.

She reflects on the 2017 US Open final, the emotional exhaustion of Grand Slam runs, playing Sloane Stephens in New York, and how badly it hurt to feel so close to a dream and watch it disappear so quickly.

Madison also shares the inner work that changed everything: therapy, separating her self-worth from results, learning to stop living only for tennis, and finally reaching the point where she could say, “I’m just going to play tennis how I want to play it.”

Then she won the Australian Open.

This episode is about pressure, perfectionism, identity, friendship, balance, and the difficult but powerful process of becoming kinder to yourself.

Chapters:
00:00 Madison Keys on feeling like a failure without a Slam
00:39 How Venus Williams inspired Madison to start tennis
03:42 Sponsor break: IM8
04:55 Turning pro at 14
07:42 Being called “the next Serena Williams”
09:18 The pressure of not winning a Grand Slam
12:15 The pain of the 2017 US Open final
18:00 Therapy, letting go, and finally winning Australia
21:35 Why winning brought old habits back
25:28 Separating Madison the person from Madison the player
29:15 What’s the point of winning if you’re miserable?
31:35 Did winning the Australian Open feel like relief?
34:00 Radical honesty and avoiding easy tennis excuses
36:35 Perfectionism: gift or curse?
41:48 Having her husband as her coach
46:15 What motivates Madison now?
50:25 Madison’s foundation and giving kids access to tennis
54:35 Madison’s advice to her younger self

This episode is sponsored by IM8.

Get 10% off your first order. Code TIC auto-applies at checkout:
https://im8health.com/discount/TIC

A special thank you to InterContinental Rome for hosting us.

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Diego Schwartzman joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Durán for a deeply honest conversation about the real cost of a life in professional tennis.
From growing up in Argentina with limited resources, to fighting his way through Futures and Challengers, to facing Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the biggest stages, Diego built one of the most respected careers in tennis through discipline, intelligence, resilience and heart.
But in this episode, Diego opens up about the side of tennis fans rarely see: the anxiety, the exhaustion, the constant travel, the pressure to keep going, and the moment he realized that even winning matches no longer felt good.
He shares why he decided to retire, what it felt like to write his retirement letter, why Djokovic was the hardest player he faced, what young players misunderstand about building a team, and why sometimes the bravest decision is knowing when to stop.
A raw, funny and emotional conversation with one of tennis’ most loved competitors.
Listen to Tennis Insider Club on Spotify:
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Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tennis-insider-club/id1721351881
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#DiegoSchwartzman #TennisInsiderClub #TennisPodcast #CarolineGarcia #ATP #Tennis

Chapters / Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:45 How Diego started playing tennis
02:10 The financial reality of becoming a pro
04:20 Managing outside support and pressure
05:10 Moving from Argentina to Europe
06:30 Why Diego didn’t play the traditional junior route
07:30 Breaking through Futures and Challengers
09:10 Building belief as a smaller player
10:50 Did his height ever make him doubt himself?
12:05 The tactics that shaped Diego’s game
14:20 Winning without playing your best
16:30 The team that pushed Diego to the limit
17:10 Why Diego retired at 32
18:00 Caroline and Diego on losing the fire
19:45 Why athletes don’t have to play until 35
21:15 The first signs something was wrong
22:10 When winning no longer felt good
23:20 Anxiety, burnout and listening to his body
24:30 The psychologist who told Diego the truth
26:45 Sponsors, money and the pressure to continue
27:45 Announcing his retirement
30:00 Crying after writing his retirement letter
31:20 Did Diego have balance during his career?
32:15 How COVID affected tennis players
34:45 Playing the ATP Finals with no fans
36:35 Diego’s best memory from his career
37:35 Why Diego kept tennis simple
38:40 Why your team matters so much
40:05 The Argentinian mentality in tennis
41:05 Alcaraz, Ferrero and staying fresh
42:50 Diego’s advice: invest in your team
44:45 Facing Rafa, Novak and Roger
45:25 Why Djokovic was the hardest opponent
46:10 The chaos of tennis scheduling
47:40 Was Diego born in the wrong era?
48:50 Giving back to South American tennis
49:30 Could Diego become a coach?
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