ATP Tennis Radio Podcast

Moroccan player Younes El Aynaoui speaks to Jill Craybas about his career, coaching french player Hugo Gaston and his hopes for the future.

The latest ATP Podcast with Chris Bowers and Jill Craybas. The duo look back on the first week of the US Open and ahead to week 2. As well as the studio discussion, there are also interviews and features with some of the home players hoping for a good second week, including...FRANCES TIAFOE ON HIS CAREER GOALS - ’There’s only two things that I’ve really wanted to do in this game and you know that’s to win a Grand Slam and to be top ten in the world and to be halfway done is incredible and now I’ve just got my eyes on the prize for that one last thing'BEN SHELTON ON ADJUSTING TO LIFE ON TOUR - ‘It’s been crazy my life changing from a college kid and living in one place all the time to living in hotels around the world and being on planes every week and seeing all these new places, but I’ve really enjoyed it'PLUS TAYLOR FRITZ ON WHAT HE EATS, AND THE AMERICAN ALSO GOES HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH STEVE JOHNSON, ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GREAT PETE SAMPRAS- Presenter - Chris Bowers- Guest - Jill Craybas- Interviews by Jill Craybas and Candy Reid- Features by ATP Uncovered

ATP Podcast reporter Jill Craybas sits down with American J.J. to find out more about the youngster including his hopes and aspirations and thoughts on tennis as an entertainment product.

Presenter Chris Bowers is joined by former WTA player Jill Craybas to look ahead to the US Open and to discuss how the draw will impact certain players progression and whether it’s Djokovic and Alcaraz against the field. As well as the studio discussion, the team also introduce interviews and features with the following...CARLOS ALCARAZ ON WHY HE’S ALWAYS SMILING - ‘I try to enjoy every moment and not only on court. Doing all this kind of stuff is part of your job as well and I try to enjoy and it’s something that I really wanted as a kid to be here, so it’s time to enjoy, to realise where I am and to have a smile all the time’.CASPER RUUD ON THE IMPORTANCE ON NOT JUST FOCUSSING ON GRAND SLAMS - ‘After Wimbledon I know this is the second part of the year, it’s time to play well and the race for a lot of things is going to be on, so it’s an exciting and hectic part of the year now with the US Open, Beijing 500, Shanghai 1000, Tokyo 500, Paris 1000, so there’s a lot of points at stake and if you do well you have the chance to climb up the rankings and really finish the year in a strong way’.MIOMIR KECMANOVIC ON LEARNING FROM NOVAK DJOKOVIC - ‘I just love the way he competes on the court and fights through everything, it’s really inspirational. Physically I admire that he can get to any ball and it doesn’t matter where he is, that thing is going to go in no matter what and then mentally, he’s just so much stronger than everybody. Nothing can get to him and the way he prepares for matches is just on another level’.- Podcast presenter - Chris Bowers- Podcast guest - Jill Craybas- Interviews by Jill Craybas and Paul King- Miomir Kecmanovic feature by ATP Media

Former World Number 4 Todd Martin speaks to Jill Craybas about his new role as Tournament Director of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati and Head of Tennis for Beemok Sports and Entertainment. Martin also opens up about what it was like to coach a young 22-year-old Novak Djokovic.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON ADAPTING TO HOT CONDITIONS - ‘When it’s really warm on the hard court the heat is absorbed in the surface, so the subjective feeling on the court is 10-20 degrees higher then it is on the outside of the court, so you have to deal with all these different things, but you train for that’.TODD MARTIN ON NOVAK DJOKOVIC’S RELENTLESSNESS - 'Novak has had a couple of long stretches where I don’t think anybody has been more difficult to beat. He defends better than anyone else and he has a mind, when he is focussed, that’s impenetrable’.STEFANOS TSITSIPAS ON TURNING 25 - ‘I feel older obviously, wiser and much happier than I was a few years ago in terms of being out here and doing what I really love. I feel this is my home and I embrace every single bit of it’.BEN SHELTON ON FOOD - ‘It’s really important for me that it’s not all about counting calories because it’s good to eat a lot with how much we’re training as tennis players and if you can just keep it clean then you can eat as much as you want if you’re eating good things that are healthy, so I’m not worried about the volume, but just how clean the food is that I put in my body’.MATTEO BERRETTINI ON GETTING OVER INJURY FROM A MENTAL PERSPECTIVE - ‘Injuries are always tough and unfortunately in my career I’ve had many and every time I thought I wouldn’t make it and then I made it, so you have to learn how to react. Suffering a little bit and really feeling what makes you sad helps you to get better and back on track’.PLUS, DANIIL MEDVEDEV ANSWERS FANS QUESTIONS, COURTESY OF ATP UNCOVERED- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Jill Craybas, Paul King and Chris Bowers- Features by ATP Uncovered

American Mackenzie McDonald speaks to ATP Podcast reporter Jill Craybas about the lessons he's learnt since breaking through on tour.

JANNIK SINNER ON HIS INSPIRATIONS - ‘I was a skier and I know Lindsey Vonn a little bit and her career showed a lot of hard work, passion and comebacks and I also read the book of Zlatan Ibrahimovic which is also a very good story, but there are so many, LeBron James, I’m not following so much basketball, but it’s so nice’.ALEX DE MINAUR NOTES TO HIS YOUNGER SELF - ‘Take it easy, don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself and enjoy the moment. If you’re playing these tournaments it means you have the level to play the best in the world, so just believe in yourself. Also, don’t dwell on the past. Live in the present and have a memory of a goldfish, because you’re going to lose a lot of tennis matches’.ALEJANDRO DAVIDOVICH FOKINA ON HIS GOALS - ’This year I want to be more stable on tour and to win more matches. I did half a year and I hope, if the first title comes, it’ll be more easy for me to believe I can win a title. I have done a lot of quarter-finals and it’s a little bit of a push for myself that I have to win those next two matches, so I hope that higher level is going to be more consistent’.DAVIDOVICH FOKINA’S COACH JORGE AGUIRRE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PSYCHOLOGY - ’Sport and life are the same. The key is to understand the person, Alejandro in this case, and helping him to grow, to make the days easier and understand his personality. All these players are tornados, without that it’s not possible to be here, but that you should use in the right way as this energy is so strong’.GAEL MONFILS ON HIS CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE - ’To have my baby girl, it’s tough for me to travel, so I’m home with her, different perspective, different goals. My priority was to best the best I can in tennis and it still is, but now my first priority is to know that my family and of course my daughter is good, feels good and then tennis is second in a way’.TOMMY PAUL ON WHAT HE EATS TO FUEL HIS BODY - ‘When I wake up the first thing I eat is an omelette, but before that, first thing’s first I get my cup of coffee along with a cup of water. For coffee I’m a black drip coffee guy, but everyone makes fun of me because I don’t really like fancy coffee, I can go gas station coffee and be happy’.J.J.WOLF ON HIS MOTIVATION - ‘We have a ton of athletes in my family and we have a ton of methods that we talk about, but the one similarity that we talk about is that we all have one thing that they remember before they step on court and I have a cousin who’s very special, he can’t talk, he was supposed to never be able to walk, so all of us were taught when we were very young is to play for those who can’t’.- Podcast presenter - Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Jill Craybas, Ursin Caderas and Candy Reid- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Feature by ATP Media- Alex De Minaur & Tommy Paul features by ATP Uncovered

Canadian Milos Raonic speak to Chris Bowers about the injuries that kept him away from the game for two years.

TAYLOR FRITZ ON THE REASON FOR HIS CHARGE UP THE RANKINGS - ’My average level has gone up a lot. Before I had to be playing really good for things to come together for me to have a big week or have big wins. Now if I’m mentally turned on, I can beat a lot of players when I’m maybe not even playing my best’.GRIGOR DIMITROV ON HIS RENEWED VIGOUR - ‘I’m enjoying the sport and I’m enjoying what I’m doing and still to be up there among the top players is a great achievement, but I believe the best is still to come. I feel the youth in my legs since I’ve put in better results in the gym and overall I’ve been able to be consistent, so in a way I’m in a better position than the younger guys, because I have the experience as well’.ANDY MURRAY ON HIS MENTAL RESILIENCE - ‘I guess it’s one of the benefits of going through injury that, whilst I haven’t got back to the level that I wanted to, yet, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to other people from other sports and just being able to talk to them has been one of the positive things. A lot of fans come up to me to talk to me about that side of things as well so it’s definitely motivating to me’.FRANCES TIAFOE ON HUMILITY - ‘I’m very comfortable in my own skin. I know what I overcame to even be at this point, to play at these events, so you know I’m Frances, I’m me in every room that I walk into, I’m blessed to be in the position that I am and now, being one of the best players in the world, I don’t take that for granted’.FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME ON THE BIGGER PICTURE - ‘Like many young players, you’re always focussed on your career and achieve more and compete and win and this year it feels funny, it feels like I didn’t play as much and I had a lot of time at home to think and it gave me a nice perspective to enjoy the other parts of my life and it was a beautiful thing actually’.FREDERIC FONTANG ON ON CONFIDENCE - ’There are two parts in the confidence, the self-confidence that you need to have whatever external things happen and the other part is the more you are winning, the less hesitation you have, so you need to have both’.PLUS - DOMINIC THIEM BUILDS HIS PERFECT PLAYER, COURTESY OF ATP UNCOVERED- Podcast presented by Seb Lauzier- Interviews by Richard Connelly, Jill Craybas, Chris Bowers & Candy Reid- Thiem feature by ATP Uncovered