John Silk

speaker

11,571 appearances 32 recordings 1 series first heard May 2026 last heard 12 Aug

John Silk’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 32 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 14.

Appearances

newest first · ▶ plays the moment

Talking Tennis · Interview with Matthew Futterman: Author of "The Cruelest Game" · 12 Aug 2026 podcast

in Olympics or in, in tennis team, team tennis events or in, in soccer as well. And many other sports, they seem to have this collective purpose together. And I think Novak Djokovic in particular, who is the other player I want to come to in terms of your book, you try to get into, you know, the mindset that he has in big moments in big matches and,

you know how does he recover from you know two sets down against city pass in the french open final how does he stay calm when the everyone around him in fact sometimes he doesn't stay calm outwardly and yet inwardly you know he's going he's doing almost everything against the textbook if you think about what rafa talks about uh you know not just the non-racket smashes but also rafa said you know got this from his uncle about

you know, don't show a sad face or an angry face to your opponent. If you're going to be upset, sort of look the other way, but don't be too expressive. He lays it all out there. And normally we see with sports people that has an adverse effect. And they end up throwing the match away because they get distracted by them out there. But for him, it's like a cleanse, isn't it? And then, right, here we go. We're back.

Yeah, and that chat you had with him at the US Open in 2023, this is just after he's come through an epic win in Cincinnati over Alcaraz, and he's now on the cusp, and he will go on to win his 24th, and I'm guessing his last Grand Slam. But actually, that actually makes me come to another point on Novak, because I'm saying that he's almost certainly not going to hear me say that. But if he did, that would drive him nuts, what I just said. Like, you know, me saying, oh, I think that might be his last one.

I find this, there's a million sort of contradictions and a bag of confusing things. And we've already spoken about some of them in terms of the way he defies logic in the way he loses his temper, but still manages to stay in the moment. But it's another thing that does come to mind as well, even during your book,

on Novak is this and you you mention it with the there's actually a few bits so for example I think you mentioned the comment that Juan Carlos Ferrero made three years ago I think just around this time as well maybe just before the French Open of that year about how or maybe after the US Open that he was still only at 65 percent he's talking about obviously Carlos Alcaz he's

His charge at the time is still only 65% of his powers. I know you might feel differently to me on the mat on this because I'm only going by what you wrote in the book, because I didn't think that that was offensive at all. I just saw that because it's not like me saying, Oh, I've beaten you Matt tennis today, but I only tried 65%. I'm so much better.

better than you that I only need to put 65% of it in. He was saying that he's trying 100%. But he doesn't realize that there's a 35% untapped market if you like in his capabilities. But from what I understand in your book, Novak didn't necessarily interpret that way. And I don't know if you interpreted it differently to me.

He's only two thirds of how good he's going to be. You hear coaches say, I mean, I'm thinking about soccer. I remember when Cristiano Ronaldo was 21, 22, 23. And Ferguson was saying, listen, this boy's just at the beginning, you know, and I'm sure that other players would build up the same way. I guess that's kind of your job in a way as a coach as well.

I guess the point I'm also trying to edge towards with Novak is sometimes he's mad about something and I'm thinking, what, really? Like there was a comment, I think, in Australia, maybe the beginning of this year, about journalists trying to retire him early. And I think he didn't come to do an official press conference. He did a mix zone, I believe, after a match as a result.

And I think he even sort of mentioned it in a press conference as well, you know, you something along those. And yet, I think other than just asking the question, which is a legitimate question, can he win more slams? Do you think he's going to win another slam? Has he, you know, what does he need to win another slam? Same questions that he addresses, by the way, of his own volition when he talks about, listen, I do need this variable to go my way.

And yet he finds that as a, by the way, this is up to him. He can do whatever he wants to, you know, he can pin a picture of me up on his dressing room and throw darts at it if it's going to help him win that next Grand Slam. But also I'm thinking about with some of the other things that he says and does, and I'm thinking, wow, I'm kind of shocked that he's annoyed by that.

I know the Ben Shelton thing certainly divides opinion. I think a lot more people will certainly have sympathy with him on that one with the way that was interpreted. But there's one or two other things, actually, I made a note of them when it came to Djokovic, that it's just kind of almost bizarre that he gets... I think he's using it as some kind of self-motivation. I think that he kind of needs that...

kind of feeling. And again, football coaches do this a lot, soccer coaches, of this them against the world kind of thing. And it helps inspire them to even greater things. Yeah, he needs to embody that Serbian narrative of the underdog fighting against the world. Yeah, the Runa one also is one of the ones you mentioned in your book as well. And again, he's just finding something and he's just going nuts on it. And it makes great copy, but you're thinking, well, where did that come from?

Last one, and it is still related to Novak, but it's a bit broader as well. Are you anticipating any feedback from any players? Of course, some of these are the ones that you've spoken to, but maybe the conversation dates back two or three years. I'm also thinking about when you're penning this book and you're typing away and you're writing about

novak's views on you know certain spiritual things or geopolitical issues as well are you thinking to yourself if novak reads this i hope he doesn't read it in the wrong way and by the way it may be other players as well when you were writing you're thinking i hope they don't i'm just laying out some of the things that they've said um and and moving on from it you don't obviously this is not what the book is about so you don't really elaborate too much on

on that but um does does that do you do you expect a call from novak or anyone else in the coming weeks saying i've read your book from front to back and i didn't like what you said about me here or there well i kind of i mean i kind of hope i get a call like that because i want as many people to read it as possible

I didn't interpret anything that way, but then there's no words in there written about me. And if there were, I'd be eternally honored or flattered. But I'm never quite in that realm of top 1000 players of tennis, never mind getting close to the top 100 or further. But listen, Matt, wonderful to have you on board today. Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

And do make sure you check out The Coolest Game, which I believe came out yesterday. So today's been the 5th of August when we record this. Came out on the 4th of August, if I'm right in thinking that way. And yeah, it's a good read. And by the way, so many subjects and so many players that we just didn't get time to touch upon. I mean, I mentioned, I think Donald Young gets a little mention, Jennifer Capriati, Boris Becker, you know, so many, dare I say, tortured souls today.

that maybe also you'll learn even a bit about, even one or two things about some of these players that I didn't know about, and I would call myself a tennis nerd. So I think this is available and very useful for whether you're a nerd or casual or just someone who's keen on sport and the mental turmoil that some and many tennis players go through. Thanks, Matt. Thanks so much for having me again. I really appreciate it. Cheers. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you hit that like button.

Showing 41–60 of 11,571 · page 3 of 579