E27 - "JL" John-Laffnie de Jager, Former South African Tennis Pro

Rick Macci is a very well known name in the tennis world. He is a legendary coach who owns and operates one of the most famous tennis academies in the world in Boca Raton, Florida (the Rick Macci Tennis Academy). USPTA Hall of Fame Tennis coach  USPTA Master Professional Seven-time USPTA national coach of the year Trained five number one ranked players: Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams. And coached many other great juniors and top professionals. Owner of the Rick Macci Tennis Academy, where he currently still coaches 50 hours a week! Rick was crucial in the development of Venus and Serena Williams. He worked with their father Richard Williams and coached them in the early nineties at his academy in Florida. Rick is also one of the main characters in the recently released movie "King Richard" which is about the Williams family and their early development with Rick Macci. The movie has already gained great reviews and is an incredible story even for people who do not follow tennis. Richard Williams is played by Will Smith and the movie may be nominated for several Oscars! Rick Macci is also very well known for his coaching videos, video analysis, zoom virtual lessons etc...His technical instructional videos are a must watch (I highly recommend them!). All videos can be viewed on youtube at Rick Macci Tennis. This is from his website (www.rickmacci.com): "Rick’s experience over the past 40 years in molding a player is unmatched by any teacher in the world. As a USPTA Master Professional, Rick trains other tennis pros and coaches how to teach, motivate and communicate with their students to “deliver the goods”. Experts agree that Rick’s insight to explaining and presenting the psychological triggers of an athlete is a gift that very few coaches’ possess and can deliver." If you want to find out more about Rick Macci and his academy, following are some useful links: Rick Macci Tennis Academy: 561-445-2747 Clubhouse & Fitness Center: 561-477-9660 NETRICXS AND VIDEO SUPPORT: 772-214-4422 [email protected] www.rickmacci.com 19760 Striker Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33498, United States Facebook: @RickMacciTennisAcademy Instagram: rickmaccitennis Youtube: Rick Macci Tennis Twitter: @rickmaccitennis Enjoy the episode and happy listening! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Facebook: @TennisLifestylePodcast  Ciao, Gianluca

Amazing chat with Craig Shapiro - tennis influencer, insider and podcaster. Craig is the creator and host of the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast which is my favourite tennis podcast. I started listening to Craigs' podcast a few years ago when it was known as the Under Review Tennis Podcast. It is an excellent listen; Craig has an incredible list of great guests and is very good at interviewing them and asking interesting questions. He is not only very enthusiastic and funny but his chats are also very informative and you end up always learning something new and surprising. I highly suggest following his podcast and listening to the past episodes. Craig has been involved in the tennis world for many years; he has had many great experiences and met many interesting people along the way. He was the racquet technician for Andre Agassi for a few years and toured the world with him and Brad Gilbert. Following his time on the tour, Craig got involved in TV production working on the Inside the NFL, Wimbledon and championship boxing for HBO Sports as well as working on the documentaries for the Tennis Channel. He has produced and directed some documentaries including one on Andre Agassi which I recommend watching (https://vimeo.com/361542352), and a mini documentary on Patrick Mourotaglou (https://vimeo.com/383801368) In our chat we talk about his life and work experiences in tennis, Indian Wells 2021, Andre Agassi, TV Broadcasting, his podcast and tennis podcasting, his recently launched Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast Tennis Academy which is mostly happening in his mind and cookies with his face! Follow Craig Shapiro if you like tennis! Twitter: @Shaptennispod Instagram: cshaptennispod shaptennispod.com https://shows.acast.com/craigtennispod Enjoy the episode and happy listening! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Facebook: @TennisLifestylePodcast  Ciao, Gianluca

Really nice conversation with the legendary broadcaster and former professional player Robbie Koenig. If you watch tennis on TV, there is a very high chance you have listened to his commentary! In this episode we chat about: Laver Cup 2021, which was held in Boston and won by team Europe. His Professional career as a tennis player. Former South African professional tennis player, had great success as a doubles player winning 5 doubles titles and reached the semifinals of the 1998 US Open men's doubles. Also achieved some great results in mixed doubles. His brief tennis coaching career. South African tennis. Junior tennis and development. His broadcasting career: one of the most famous and recognizable voices in tennis broadcasting. Robbie has commentated on several TV channels all over the world and is currently commentating for ATP Tennis on Amazon Prime UK, the Majors, Laver Cup and Sky NZ... His broadcasting style is unique and he blends great knowledge of the game (having played at the highest level), insights into players and their teams, technical and statistical analysis, and combines these with his great enthusiasm and passion for the game. He is also known for his famous one liners and sayings! We talk about this and more... Also we find out more about Robbie towards the end of the episode when we talk about his many passions which include Fly fishing, 80s music, coffee, golf. etc... and don't miss the mega rapid fire quiz!    Furthermore, Robbie was very accommodating, down to earth and it was a pleasure chatting to him. You can follow Robbie on twitter at: @RobKoenigTennis Enjoy the episode and happy listening! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. It also features on www.tennisworldusa.org - one of the most viewed tennis news websites around. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Facebook: @TennisLifestylePodcast  Ciao, Gianluca

Great chat with Enrico Maria Riva. Enrico is a graphics and stats operator for the ATP and tennis TV channels. He gets to travel all over the world and is the man behind all the graphics and stats shown during matches and tournaments. He also obviously collaborates closely with all the English speaking tennis commentators and feeds them useful info and stats in order to make the broadcast more interesting! He has a very large twitter following which includes everyone from Novak to Piatti to Wawrinka. I would encourage everyone to follow him also because he mixes great tennis stats with lots of silly comments which are often very funny! We also discuss the recently finished US Open including the highlights, controversies and many talking points. You can follow and find out more about Enrico on twitter - @enricomariariva Enjoy the episode and happy listening! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Spread the word and get in contact with me. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Facebook: @TennisLifestylePodcast  Ciao, Gianluca

In this episode I chat with Marco Panichi. We talk straight after the 2021 Wimbledon final which was won by Novak Djokovic (his 20th grand slam title) who Marco is currently working with as a fitness trainer. Marco has had an incredible career; he has an enormous amount of experience as a fitness coach and as a life coach to many tennis players and athletes. Marco Panichi is an Italian professional Coach and Massophysiotherapist, high-level motor preparation trainer, currently working with Novak Djokovic. They worked together in 2018 and in 2019 Marco joined Novak's team again.  He is a former athlete, 2-time Italian champion in long jump. Marco has worked with numerous tennis federations, including Italian, Chinese, Israeli and German. Consultant at leading tennis academies such as Sanchez-Casal and IMG. Marco also records fitness training videos for TopLevelTennis.com As a personal trainer he has worked with an incredible amount of famous tennis stars: Novak Djokovic Angelique Kerber Christian Garin Philipp Kohlschreiber Ivo Karlovic Fabio Fognini Francesca Schiavone Li Na and many many more.... Enjoy the episode! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Facebook: @TennisLifestylePodcast  Ciao, Gianluca

In this episode I have a great chat with Frederic Fontang who is in Paris at the French Open 2021, coaching Felix Auger-Aliassime. A successful junior, Fontang won the Petits As in 1984 and was the French 16s champion in 1986. An ATP Professional Player between 1989 and 1998, reached a career-high ranking of World No. 59, and captured the ATP Tour title in Palermo in 1991. After his playing career, Frederic became coach of Jeremy Chardy and remained with him for 12 years. During this time Chardy won the 2005 Wimbledon Championships Boys' Singles title, won ATP 250 title in Stuttgart and reached the fourth round of the French Open the next year. Worked with Vasek Pospisil from October 2012 to August 2016. During this time, Pospisil reached an ATP ranking of No. 25 in singles and No. 4 in doubles.  He also coached Caroline Garcia from march 2011 to June 2012. Final US Open Juniors and semi Final at French open Juniors. Frederic is the coach for the Canadian Davis Cup team. We talk about his professional playing career, his coaching career, coaching Felix and collaborating/working with Toni Nadal, who has joined their team in 2021; and much more.... Enjoy the episode! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Facebook: @TennisLifestylePodcast  Ciao, Gianluca

In this episode I chat to Vanni Gibertini. Vanni is a tennis correspondent / journalist for Ubitennis.com since 2010; he is also a part time editor. Italian from Modena, and currently lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Ubitennis.com is a very popular tennis news website founded by Ubaldo Scanagatta, the legendary tennis journalist from Italy. Vanni is a freelance sports writer but also an experienced airline professional that has a background in aviation having worked for International Air Transport Association (IATA) He is an on site reporter for all the major tournaments in the world, including Wimbledon and the other Grand Slam tournaments, Masters 1000 in North America, Davis Cup, Fed Cup and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. I have been following Vanni for quite some time now and must admit he is one of the most informed people in the tennis world, always up to date with all the news and often very insightful. You can follow Vanni on twitter at @vgibertini or on ubitennis.com Enjoy the episode! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Facebook: @TennisLifestylePodcast  Ciao, Gianluca

Great chat with John-Laffnie De Jager! "JL" is a South African former professional tennis player. Had a career high singles of 313, but had great success as a doubles player with a career high of 11 and 7 titles. He also reached 4 grand slam doubles semi finals and 2 mixed doubles finals. JL achieved 4th place in the Sydney Olimpics in 2000 and qualified for the ATP Doubles Championship in 1999. He is a Grade A star GPTCA level coach, certified by the ATP; and captained the South African Davis Cup team. JL is involved in several projects and businesses: Founder: Matchpoint Tennis Foundation Owner: JL’s Tennis Academy in Pretoria Motivational speaker and mental conditioning coach for high performance athletes and teams including top rugby teams. JL was also the head coach of the UAE Royals (tennis team based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates that competed in the International Premier Tennis League) and is the head coach of the Springfield Lasers are a World Team Tennis franchise in the USA. He also talks about his involvement in the "Match for Africa", which his company organized; and talks about getting Federer, Nadal, Bill Gates and Trevor Noah involved and breaking the world record for attending a tennis match in the Cape Town Stadium! He also had a very interesting childhood growing up on a farm; and tells us the story of when he was born, his heart stopped and they had to give him an injection to get his heart going. Instead of injecting him in the thigh, they injected him in his butt and basically hit the main nerve going down his right leg, so he only had 10 percent use of his nerve in the right leg. The doctors told his parents that he only had a 12% chance of walking properly and he'd never be able to play any sport. His right leg is an inch-and-a-half shorter than his left leg, and he was in a cast until he was three years old! Enjoy the episode! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Facebook: @TennisLifestylePodcast  Ciao, Gianluca

In this episode I interview Boris Sobkin who speaks to me from Moscow.  He talks about his career, his relationship with Mikhail Youzhny, the current state of Russian tennis and much more... Boris is a legendary coach and teacher of our sport. He is over 70 years of age and still busy coaching at the highest level. He has an enormous amount of experience and probably can talk about Russian tennis better than most people. He is currently working with Alexander Bublik and the Kazakhstan tennis federation. He is GPTCA A star level coach, and Russian President of the Global Professional Tennis Coaching Association Longtime (25 years) coach of Mikhail Youzhny (career high ranking ATP #8) who captured two Davis Cup titles with Russia, and won 10 ATP Tour singles titles. Also coached Laslo Djere, Evgeny Donskoy, Andrei Chesnokov, Stakhovsky to name a few... He has also been involved and worked out of the legendary Spartak Tennis Club in Moscow, which became a pipeline for producing professional tennis players including Andrei Chesnakov, Marat Safin, Dmitri Tursunov, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, Anna Kournikova and Anastasia Myskina just to name a few of the most successful players. Honorary Coach of the Russian Tennis Federation (since 2002) Earned a doctorate at the Moscow University, Boris is a professor, doctor of science Member of the Russian Tennis Hall of Fame Enjoy the episode! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Ciao, Gianluca

Salvador Navarro is a GPTCA A* Level International Coach from Barcelona, Spain. His career highlights include: 2013, 2014, 2015: Flavia Pennetta's coach; won Fed Cup 2013 with Italy, reached semis at US Open 2013, won Indian Wells 2014 and US Open 2015 2011, 2012: Coached Tommy Robredo (winner of ATP Santiago de Chile and Casablanca) and Marc López (4 ATP doubles trophies, Davis Cup finalist with Spain in 2012, WTF London doubles champion) 2010: Coached Pablo Andujar, ATP Career High #32  2008, 2009: Coached Juan Carlos Ferrero, former ATP #1 2006, 2007: Coached Guillermo Garcia Lopez, ATP Career High #23 2005: Coached Santiago Ventura, ATP Career High #65 and Ruben Ramirez, ATP Career High #50 Apart from his incredibly successfull coaching career Salvador was also a professional tennis player for 10 years (best ranking in singles #156, in doubles #137) He now is the technical director of MASTER TENNIS BARCELONA Academy, which he operates with Óscar Hernandez; MASTER TENNIS BARCELONA is a high-performance center specialized in coaching players of all level and ages. It is an amazing facility which offers 20 tennis courts, with 4 GreenSets and 16 badida clay courts, a large high-performance gym, which includes a stretching, cycling and Pilates room, outdoor and indoor swimming pools, 10 paddle tennis courts, 2 soccer fields, 1 multisport court for fitness training, a bar and a restaurant. You can get more info on Salvador and his Academy at http://mastertennisbcn.com/ Twitter: @salvanavarro8 Enjoy the episode! Please follow and subscribe to my podcast, you will find it on most platforms. Website: https://anchor.fm/gianluca-sola Instagram: tennis_lifestyle_podcast Twitter: @GlSola Ciao, Gianluca