Dan Kiernan (36:09)
And so many things that I then take there. I've obviously I've got this, this personal relationship with Lloyd, but hearing him at that point, just how much mature he'd become, you know, just in that short space, I think you even pick it up through the conversations and I hope also myself, I hope also you can see that I've developed a little bit with this podcast. You know, I'll go back to the first clips and I'm like, whoa, I sound like I wasn't the smoothest at that time. So hopefully all of us were continuing to develop and get better. But yeah, controlling and he talked about the controllables, you know, which are very important to me. And we've talked about that a lot over the years with Lloyd. But hearing him say controlling, how good of a partner you are, I was like, hallelujah, he gets it, you know, and it's, it takes time, right? It takes time for these players to, to get that. And that's a theme that I wanted, I want to touched on also the humility, you know, having, you know, family behind him. You know, he's got fantastic parents in Neil and Sean and you know, Neil kind of making bit of fun of him as he's getting close to being world number one about his runner up trophies and just kind of keeping them in check and, and also the best competitors as we talked about before, they then have room that they've got to, got to try and prove people wrong a little bit. And that humility is something that I think is, is very important and it's given me a little bit of time, I guess to reflect on, on that journey. When you're around a player for almost 20 years and you know, obviously incredible to then see them at the very top of the game. But it's not a, it's not a linear journey. And, and I think that's one of my big things to, to you listening that to take from this, you know, whether you are a player, a coach, a parent, you know, this is a journey, this is a long journey. And, you know, I even, I go back to. I want to say it's like 2016, 15 maybe. I watched Lloyd play a doubles match with Josh Ward Hibbert against Johnny o' Mara and Scott Clayton in Glasgow. And I'll be honest, I sat on the balcony in Glasgow as the coach of Lloyd and Josh, and I wished I was the coach of Johnny and Scott that day because they brought an energy, they brought a great attitude to the court, and they completely outplayed Josh and Lloyd, you know, and, and, and at that point you would have thought Lloyd, he just doesn't really have the doubles thing. He doesn't get it really. Obviously he's got a lot of skill. He's a very good tennis player. And I remember speaking to Johnny and Scott afterwards and I said, boys, you can absolutely be top, top 50 doubles players. You know, at the time they were all like 7,800in, in the world. And, and I guess the, the reflection and the lesson for me is we have to give people time, right? We have to give these players time. And this was that time. Lloyd was 23, 24, you know, but we've got to give them time to grow into their own skin. You know, we heard Lloyd talking earlier about the reason he wasn't saying good morning to people was a confidence thing. You know, he wasn't comfortable in his own skin. It's not. We sometimes judge kids and we think it's because they're. They're being RC or they're not being, you know, a certain way, but actually it takes time for, for that to develop. And I saw a similar thing with Henry Patton, who's now playing with Harry Heliovar. I watched him play with Johnny Binding in Sunderland many years ago. And I came away thinking, this guy, okay, he's a skillful tennis player, but he doesn't really have it in terms of the right energy to be a doubles player. And how, how wrong, how wrong could I be? You know, and they needed that time to develop those skills. Feeling comfortable about themselves, tennis skills is one thing, but personal skills, being able to develop them into professional skills and ultimately being their authentic self is a big, big part of that. And another one that jumps to my mind is last year since then, Natty was a time when Julian and Lloyd, they were winning, obviously they'd won. Gone back to back, really, that they'd won Queens, they'd won Eastbourne, they'd won Wimbledon, they'd then gone to Montreal, they'd won in Montreal, kind of come back from the dead, save match points in the first round, save much points in the final. Then Cincinnati, first round, I believe they saved match points. So it was very, very tight match that they won. And I saw Lloyd after, and he was like, literally I saw him like 30 seconds after to the match, and he, he said, when the taps running. The taps running, you know, and, and. And it. With a kind of bit of a smile on his face, almost that feeling of you can't lose at that moment. And again, longevity in the sport, you keep doing the right things, you know, you will have those moments, you know, and just as you'll have those moments where it feels like it's hard to get the tap turned on, right? It's, you know, tennis. Tennis can bring that, especially in the scoring format of doubles, which is the margins are so, so very small. And matches can turn on a dime at, at any moment. And there was a few, I guess, five or six points. I'd just like to, To. To leave with you from today's episode, taking you through Lloyd Glasspool's amazing journey from Birmingham, from Solihull, all the way to being on the. On the top of the world. And so many incredible people that are. Have played those roles. You would have heard a lot of names come out today as well, but so many more behind the scenes that do that work. But first and foremost, it was fun. It wasn't too serious, you know, And I, And I think if you have that outlook on it, it. It keeps you in the sport, it wants you to get back on the court, put those practice hours in, you know, and it's. It's not a burden. Just a question I'd want to ask you. Are we putting too much of a burden on kids at times? You know, as a parent, as a coach? Are we. Are we making it fun enough? Are we making sure that this is a positive experience in their life? You know, because if it is, it's. It's gonna. It's gonna go on, and it's gonna either benefit them, one on court, but also secondly off court as well and for the rest of their lives. I love competition. You know, you have to love to compete. You know, don't be afraid of competition. That's the sport that's the game. Embrace that competition. The best players embrace that competition in. In everything that they do. You know, don't be afraid of the emotions that are attached to competition, you know, and I think that's a. That's a really, really important message to take process over outcome. We heard about Lloyd talking about their Wimbledon journey, you know, and ultimately kind of locking in, driving up with the legs in the key moments, not thinking, just get it in. Not just thinking, oh, my God, this is my chance, you know, but. But really having these clear, committed intentions in. In all that you do, you know, an unbelievably important message. A1. A1 for me that I'd like us all to take away, you know, allowing people time to grow into your authentic self. You know, having spent all of those years with Lloyd, there was times he was. He was trying to be something that he wasn't. You know, he was getting involved in the comparisons. He was getting involved in the wild card chat, and he was getting involved in banter that he didn't need to be having with various players, you know, but just seeing him now, he's so much more comfortable in his own skin, and he's able to be his authentic self. And if we're able to be our authentic selves, then we give our best chance of being able to express ourselves. And I think that's a really, really important piece for all of us. But give people time. People need time on that. Lloyd's now 32, you know, and if he's brutally honest, it's probably only the last two years or so that he's. That he's grown into that. You know, it's. It takes time. You know, it's not something that just people pick up naturally from a very, very young age, and then humility. Lloyd has remained humble throughout this whole process, and, you know, people around him that have been able to do that. But it is a massively important skill attribute to have to. To remain humble and. And then be a great partner. And that sometimes in tennis, we. We set about. In tennis, we're telling people to be selfish. Think about yourself. You know, you've got to get your own time management. You've got to think about what you need. And then doubles is a more challenging way because. But that. Doubles is more like life, right? You know, we have other people to think of, you know, and we've got to see life through a different lens, not just our own. And that ability to be humble and to be a great partner is. Is. Is vitally important to success, but also to success and happiness in life as well. And then lastly, great coaches make a difference. You know, I, I've said many occasions that players make coaches and I do believe in that. However, the longer I'm in this, the more I realize also the role that great coaches are vitally important. Now, as I, as I talk today, British men are number one, two, three and nine in the world. I go back to 2005 when I was British number one. I was sitting at 100, 150 in the world. All Lloyd, these guys much, much better tennis players than myself. No, I don't think they are and I don't have a high opinion of my tennis. However, they've had great coaching behind them. They've had a system behind them. They've had then a belief system behind them because of other players that have done that themselves as well. And, and that is absolutely Louis Kaye, you know, and he's brought lots of other great people around. You know, big shout out to Calvin Betton, Henry Patton's coach, coach and Harry Aliavara's coach and many other British coaches as well that have benefited from their time with Louis Kaya, Craig Veal, who does, who does a fantastic job. Rob Morgan, David o'. Hare. You know, there's been a lot of coaches that have benefited from the Louis Kaya way and system and, and because of that, the players have as well. But Ken Skupsky can't leave my old roommate out in that shout out as well. But yeah, just, just great coaches having great people. It's, it's unbelievably important as well. So a big, big shout out to Louis Cailler for that as well. And then to finish off everything that we've talked about there, they could take tennis out of it. It's life lessons. Everything absolutely stands in terms of how we can all live a better life, you know, as, as well as be better tennis players as well. But a last shout out goes to Lloyd Glasspool, who is the current world number one. 2025. What a year. But it's not just a year. It's many, many, many, many, many years of great people that create this. And it's been fun to just explore that over, over the last few years and listening to Lloyd speak on that as well. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Reminiscing and going through that. Wishing you all the absolute best for 2026. What an exciting year ahead. We will be back. I will be in Australia bringing lots of different content to you. Get in touch with what you want to hear. As ever, thank you for the support, but until next time, I'm Dan Kiernan. We are Controller controllables.
