With Davis and Billie Jean King Cup teams both in action this week, I caught up with Cian Blake, interim co-captain for the Davis Cup team, to get his thoughts on the week so far and look forward to tomorrow’s match-up. The very best of luck to both teams, and keep an eye out for more content like this over the coming days.

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week I’m chatting to Cian Blake and Carlos Miranda, the interim captains for the upcoming Davis Cup tie in Cyprus this week. You’ll hear about their background in tennis, their journeys as coaches, and they also preview the matches this week. They discuss the team, the format and how to follow along. Also, find out how they fare with their Irish Davis Cup trivia. I really appreciate their time with this episode and wish them and...

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week I am chatting to JoAnne Williamson. JoAnne has been involved in tennis her whole life and spent time as a teenager in the Bollettieri Academy and represented Ireland at the Junior World Championships. More recently she has played for Ireland at a vet level and done so with a lot of success. And she has also spent a number of years coaching to a high level. JoAnne has a lot of passion for tennis and has a lot of great...

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week I’m chatting to Rob Leahy. Rob has a huge amount of experience in the racket restringing business and has worked as a stringer at several professional events over the years in addition to working in shops in Cork for many years and more recently Doha where he now lives and works. As well as discussing some of his own journey in tennis and how he started stringing, Rob also shares a huge amount of advice for those interested...

We are in the final week of the US college tennis season so tune in to hear how the Irish players have fared in the National Championships over the last 2-3 weeks. Also find out which players have been recognised by their conference as having had outstanding seasons. There are visuals that accompany this episode, so I’d recommend watching on YouTube if you can, to see the images and draws that Mark is discussing. A big well done to all the players for a great season and many thanks to Mark...

Georgia Drummy is currently competing at the NCAA national championships and has won her opening two matches to reach the last 16. Fergus O’Rourke, also an Irish college tennis player has been on the campus for the tournament and yesterday he caught up with Georgia to get her thoughts on the tournament so far. Many thanks to both Fergus and Georgia for taking the time to do this, and best of luck to Georgia for the rest of the tournament. She plays her next match at 6:30pm Irish time today,...

With the regular season now finished, Mark Finnegan takes us through what the remainder looks like. From NCAA D1, D2, NAIA and Junior Colleges, team, singles and doubles, tune in to learn all about it and hear about which Irish players are competing over the course of May. The very best of luck to all players. With thanks to the NCAA where all the draws used in this episode are taken from. See https://www.ncaa.com/sports/tennis-women/d1 and https://www.ncaa.com/sports/tennis-men/d1 for...

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week I’ve got a really special episode with Liam O’Donoghue, the founder of Enjoy Tennis. Liam gives a brilliant insight into what Enjoy Tennis does, how it has grown and is continuing to do so, and the impact that it has had on so many people all around the country. This is without a doubt one of the most moving and uplifting chats that I’ve had on the podcast. As we say during the episode, if you have any questions or would...

As the US College tennis season nears an end and we reach the Conference championships this week, tune in to catch up on all the action from the last two weeks. Thanks as always to Mark Finnegan for the updates and make sure to listen again as the National Championships are fast approaching.

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. I’m really excited to have Gina Niland on the podcast this week. Gina has had a really great tennis journey, including being Ireland’s most successful Fed Cup player over 12 years, and she has career high rankings in the top 500 for singles and doubles. During the chat we talk about her early tennis development and progress, both in England and after her family moved back to Ireland. We talk about Fed Cup, the not-so-glamorous life...

On this episode I’m talking with Mark Finnegan about all of the Irish players playing college tennis in the US at the moment. There are a lot of players doing amazingly well over there and this is a chance to give them some of the recognition they deserve. Enjoy this update and tune in again in two weeks to see how the season is progressing.

Welcome to episode five, the final part, of “The History of Irish Tennis”, my series with Tom Higgins, author and expert. Over the course of the series, we have looked back at various areas of the history of the sport in this country. Join us for this fascinating journey and learn something new. In the fifth and final episode, Tom discusses various topics, including the Fed Cup, US tennis scholarships, and the not-so-easy question of the oldest tennis club in Ireland. There are also some...

Welcome to episode four of “The History of Irish Tennis”, my series with Tom Higgins, author and expert. Over the course of the series, we will be looking back at various areas of the history of the sport in this country. Join us for this fascinating journey and learn something new. In the fourth episode, Tom discusses the Olympics and the Davis Cup; the origins of these competitions, how they have developed and progressed, and of course Irish successes over the years, from Olympic medals won...

On this episode I’m talking with Mark Finnegan about all of the Irish players playing college tennis in the US at the moment. There are a lot of players doing amazingly well over there and this is a chance to give them some of the recognition they deserve. Enjoy this update and tune in again in two weeks to see how the season is progressing. And also in this episode I’ve caught up with Dave Mullins for some more explanation of the competition structure, and the structure of the college...

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week on the podcast is Garrett Barry. Garrett is the National Performance Coordinator at Tennis Ireland and has been part of the team developing a new national performance strategy. The plan is ready to go as soon as Covid allows and Garrett takes us through all the main details here. As Garrett mentions towards the end of the episode, he is more than happy to receive any feedback, queries or advice on the plan, and you can...

Welcome to episode three of “The History of Irish Tennis”, my new series with Tom Higgins, author and expert. Over the course of the series, we will be looking back at various areas of the history of the sport in this country. Join us for this fascinating journey and learn something new. In the third episode Tom discusses some of the individuals and families that have shaped Irish tennis over the years – from the top players of the early and mid-1900s, to more recent families such as the...

On this episode I’m talking with Mark Finnegan about all of the Irish players playing college tennis in the US at the moment. There are a lot of players doing amazingly well over there and this is a chance to give them some of the recognition they deserve. Enjoy this update and tune in again in two weeks to see how the season is progressing.

Welcome to episode two of “The History of Irish Tennis”, my new series with Tom Higgins, author and expert. Over the course of the series, we will be looking back at various areas of the history of the sport in this country. Join us for this fascinating journey and learn something new. In this second episode, Tom discusses the Golden Age of tennis in Ireland, the success of the Irish at the major championships, as well as touching on other issues such as what caused Ireland to lose its grip...

Welcome to the first episode of “The History of Irish Tennis”, my new series with Tom Higgins, author and expert. Over the course of the series, we will be looking back at various areas of the history of the sport in this country. Join us for this fascinating journey and learn something new. In this first episode, Tom discusses the origins of the sport of tennis, how it first came to Ireland, the inaugural Irish Championships in 1879 and why they were such a big success. Tom’s three volume...

On this episode I’m talking with Mark Finnegan about all of the Irish players playing college tennis in the US at the moment. There are a lot of players doing amazingly well over there and this is a chance to give them some of the recognition they deserve. Enjoy this update and tune in again in two weeks to see how the season is progressing.

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week I’m talking to Elsa O’Riain. Elsa played pro tennis for two years and achieved a top 400 singles ranking in that time. She’s represented Ireland in the Fed Cup, competed at three of the four junior grand slams and had a very successful time playing tennis at Harvard University. I really enjoyed talking to Elsa and hearing her tennis story. As well as discussing the highs and lows of her journey, we also talk about the wider...

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week I’m talking to the wonderful Rosa Stephens. Anyone who’s been involved in tournaments or leagues in Leinster over the last number of years definitely knows Rosa and what a great job she does. During her time working for Leinster Tennis Rosa has been involved in bringing in Tournament Software, organising junior leagues, introducing Phoenix draws and a lot more. Rosa has done amazing things for Irish tennis and you’re not...

On this episode I’m talking with Mark Finnegan about all of the Irish players playing college tennis in the US at the moment. There are a lot of players doing amazingly well over there and this is a chance to give them some of the recognition they deserve. Enjoy this update and tune in again in two weeks to see how the season is progressing.

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week I’m delighted to be chatting to Mike Cation. Mike is a legend of pro tennis commentary, working primarily on ATP Challenger level tennis on the USTA Pro Circuit. And he’s also worked at the Australian and US Opens. We talk about where this started for Mike, what he loves about the job and some of his best memories. In the second half of the episode, we talk about Mike’s experiences and memories of some of the best Irish...

Hello and welcome back to the Irish Tennis Updates Podcast. This week I’m talking to Mark Carpenter. Mark has been around tennis his whole life and has a lot to offer to tennis in Ireland. As a junior he grew up in Switzerland and got to experience the tennis system over there. We touch on what we can learn from the Swiss when it comes to competitions. We also discuss other issues in Irish tennis as well as Mark’s time working on the committee for the Irish Open and what that experience...