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.
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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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