Tennis Insider Club with Caro Garcia

Mark Knowles has spent his life around some of the greatest players in tennis — first as a player alongside Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Pete Sampras, and now as a coach working with Jessica Pegula.
In this episode, Mark joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Durán for a deeply honest conversation about what actually separates talented players from the ones who reach their full potential.
Mark reflects on why he believes he underachieved in singles, how perfectionism hurt his career, and why he now tells players: “Do not chase perfection.”
He also opens up about coaching Jessica Pegula — why her team spent nearly a year convincing her to practice less, why elite players sometimes need less information rather than more, and how they are trying to help her take the final step toward winning a Grand Slam.
The conversation also turns to one of the most sensitive subjects in tennis: parents.
Mark explains why he believes players cannot reach their full potential until they establish the right relationship with their parents, leading Caroline to reflect openly on how her own father’s involvement affected her confidence, independence and decision-making.
They also discuss Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, player development, burnout, confidence, and why some of the hardest moments in a tennis career can become the ones you miss most once it is over.

Chapters:
00:00 Tennis parents, confidence & “I hated tennis”
00:44 Growing up in the Bahamas
01:45 Nick Bollettieri discovers Mark
03:00 Life inside the Bollettieri academy
05:20 Believing he could become World No. 1
06:35 Why Mark feels he underachieved
08:25 Caroline on struggling with confidence
11:25 Becoming a coach
13:40 How Mark started working with Jessica Pegula
15:05 Do champions need delusional confidence?
15:45 Why talent is overrated
16:30 “Do not chase perfection”
18:40 Caroline’s regret about not celebrating
19:20 Mark’s Grand Slam regrets
20:00 Teaching Pegula to celebrate winning
24:15 Why Jessica Pegula practiced too much
25:00 Convincing Pegula to train less
26:40 The problem with tennis parents
28:35 Caroline opens up about her father
29:45 Andy Roddick’s conversation with his dad
35:00 How a coach earns a player’s trust
36:30 Why Pegula focuses on improvement, not ranking
38:00 Why Pegula wants less information
40:00 Coaching a player trying to win a Grand Slam
42:45 Should players practice on Slam off-days?
44:55 Mark’s advice to young players
47:00 Why Jannik Sinner barely played juniors
49:00 Why reaching the top too young can hurt players
50:20 Alcaraz and building a complete game
50:50 How Nadal transformed his game
52:30 Caroline on what she wishes she had developed
53:45 How Federer, Nadal, Djokovic & Sinner kept evolving
57:00 Friendship and rivalry on tour
58:00 Why Caroline struggled to connect with players
59:00 How tennis locker rooms have changed
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Ryan Harrison joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Duran for a deep dive into what elite tennis coaching actually looks like — and why some of the most common advice players receive may not help them at all.
Now coaching Sebastian Korda, Ryan takes us inside the process of helping a player navigate pressure, setbacks and the biggest moments. He explains how Korda went from losing five straight points from 5–2 up in a deciding tiebreak against Taylor Fritz to handling the pressure differently weeks later against Carlos.
Ryan also reflects on his own experience as a teenage prodigy, winning an ATP match at just 15, dealing with expectations and injuries, and what he wishes he had understood much earlier in his career.
We get into why players can become obsessed with results instead of improvement, why tennis practice is often too generic, how players should actually choose a coach, and why telling someone to simply “be aggressive” means very little unless you can explain how.
Ryan also turns coach for Caroline, breaking down how he would approach a match against Danielle Collins, before discussing parents in tennis, team dynamics, data, on-court coaching and his relationship with his brother Christian Harrison.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Ryan Harrison’s tennis upbringing & being coached by his dad
01:18 Winning an ATP match at 15: when tennis became real
02:07 Pressure, plateaus & the prodigy trap
08:00 How Ryan’s parents helped him handle the pressure
12:09 What Ryan wishes he understood as a player
15:26 Injuries, COVID & how adversity shaped him as a coach
19:08 Korda vs Fritz → Carlos: learning how to close
21:17 Coaching men vs women
23:42 How Ryan would coach Caroline against Danielle Collins
27:38 Why tennis practice is often too generic
29:52 Stop chasing immediate results
35:23 How tennis players should choose a coach
40:12 On-court coaching, trust & solving matches in real time
43:19 Why “be aggressive” means nothing
45:07 How Ryan uses data without overwhelming players
48:30 What he would tell a 15-year-old prodigy today
50:26 Parents in tennis: knowing when to step back
55:47 Christian Harrison: from sibling rivalry to unconditional support

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Why do tennis players lose matches they should win?
Legendary coach and former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert breaks down the tactics, mindset and tiny margins that separate winning from losing — with lessons from coaching Andre Agassi and insights on Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Caroline Garcia.
Brad explains why he once told Agassi, “I never beat you. You lost to yourself,” and how changing the way Andre thought about risk helped transform his results.
In this episode of The Insight, Brad reveals:
• Why hitting more winners doesn’t necessarily mean playing better tennis
• The mistake players make when a game plan stops working
• Why you shouldn’t change a winning strategy until your opponent forces you to
• How just 5–7 points can decide an entire match
• What Roger Federer’s 53% of points won teaches us about greatness
• The tactic Andre Agassi hated — even while it was helping him win
• Why Novak Djokovic is so effective in pressure moments and tiebreaks
• How elite players prepare before a Grand Slam
• Why one bad match can never be allowed to become five
Brad Gilbert built his career around understanding how to win — even when winning doesn’t look pretty. This is a masterclass in playing smarter, managing risk and trusting your strengths when the pressure is highest.
CHAPTERS
00:00 “You lost to yourself” — Brad on Andre Agassi
02:00 Why Caroline Garcia plays “massively risky”
03:20 When your game plan isn’t working
05:00 Don’t change a winning hand
06:30 The tiny margins that decide tennis matches
07:20 Federer won only 53% of his points
08:15 The statistic Brad changed with Agassi
10:00 Why great players need to adapt
11:45 The tactic Andre Agassi hated
13:30 How to play under pressure
15:00 Why Djokovic is so good in tiebreaks
17:00 Greatness happens in practice
18:00 You don’t need to beat the whole draw
19:00 How champions approach Grand Slams
22:15 The matches that determine your ranking

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Can a parent also be the coach? And can perfectionism create greatness without destroying the person?

Former world No. 3 and Roger Federer’s former coach Ivan Ljubicic joins Caroline Garcia and Borja Duran for an honest conversation about tennis parents, junior development, elite coaching and the hidden cost of becoming one of the best.

Ivan explains why parents should be responsible for developing the human being—not coaching the tennis player—and how even a small expression of doubt can undermine a child’s relationship with their coach. He discusses parents who project their own ambitions, the difficult transition toward independence, and why a parent can never fully occupy both roles.

They also explore why results should not be the objective, how Jannik Sinner focuses on constant improvement, why junior success can be misleading, and what players should value when choosing a coach.

Ivan then reveals what made Roger Federer so professional and coachable, how Federer treated the people around him, and why the greatest players never stop adding new tools to their game.

In this episode:

• The biggest mistakes tennis parents make
• How to raise an ambitious but independent young athlete
• Why results are outside a player’s control
• The relationship between perfectionism, success and happiness
• How to choose the right coach
• Why player and coach must share the same ambition
• The danger of becoming successful too young
• How elite tennis teams are built
• What players can learn from Roger Federer
• Why players must take ownership of their careers

Can a parent successfully be both the parent and the coach? Share your perspective in the episode comments.

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Ben Shelton did not seriously choose tennis until he was 11. His father and coach, Bryan Shelton, reveals how he helped build Ben’s extraordinary confidence—without controlling him, limiting his personality or coaching the talent out of him.

From setting his own alarm for 6 a.m. practices to leaving college early and eventually asking his father to join him on tour, Ben’s journey was built around responsibility, independence and belief.

Bryan explains why he only gives Ben “five or ten percent” of what he knows, why he smiles from the player box even when things are going badly, and why parents should ask more questions instead of constantly telling young athletes what to do.

This is The Insight: the most powerful lessons from our complete conversation with Bryan Shelton.

Watch the full Bryan Shelton episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JOp69bDfkg

CHAPTERS

00:00 Ben Didn’t Want to Play Tennis
01:24 The 6 A.M. Practice Rule
02:08 Developing the Person, Not Just the Player
03:05 Ben’s Unusual Confidence
04:18 Don’t Put Him in a Box
05:18 Raising the Floor Without Lowering the Ceiling
06:22 Keep Making the Right Mistakes 07:48 Why Ben Left College Early
10:23 “Dad, You Have to Come Out Here With Me”
10:50 Balancing Being a Father and Coach
12:12 Why Bryan Only Gives Ben 10%
12:54 Why Bryan Always Smiles
13:58 What Parents Project From the Player Box
15:24 Confidence Before Results
17:18 Bryan’s Advice to Parents
19:18 The Lesson Every Sports Parent Should Hear

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