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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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.

Follow Tennis Insider Club for more honest conversations with the biggest names in tennis.

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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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