Clijsters’ Former Coach Carl Maes on Clay Strategy, Tour Stories, & More | Love All w/ Kim Clijsters
4/8/20261 hr 4 min
Join 4-time Grand Slam Champion Kim Clijsters and tennis reporter Blair Henley as they welcome a pivotal figure from Kim’s legendary career: her former coach, Carl Maes. The trio dives into the transition from hard courts to clay, with Carl breaking down sliding technique, player development, and sharing funny behind-the-scenes stories from Kim’s junior days. They also discuss Jessica Pegula’s Charleston title run, Tommy Paul’s Houston win, and the ever-changing coaching landscape following Iga Swiatek’s new partnership with Francisco Roig. Welcome to Love All! If you want to hang out with us behind the scenes follow us on all of our socials: https://www.instagram.com/loveallpodcast/ https://www.tiktok.com/@loveallpodcast https://x.com/loveallpodcast ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Welcome to Love All 0:54 Henley’s Headlines: Jess Pegula’s Charleston Victory 2:51 Tommy Paul’s Houston Recovery and the 1986 World Cup Connection 5:12 Mastering the Dirt: Adjusting Movement and Strategy for Clay 6:50 Coaching Moves: Francisco Roig Joins Iga Swiatek’s Team 10:18 Carl Maes joins the show 12:04 Technical vs. Tactical: The Hard Court to Clay Transition 15:40 Developing the "Clay Court Footing" with Movement Drills 25:50 The "Jeep vs. Ferrari" Strategy: Teaching Patience to Juniors 27:10 Surface Sensitivity: Red Clay vs. Green Clay vs. Weather 31:19 Locker Room Superstitions: Rackets, Tapes, and Backstreet Boys 33:57 Teaching Responsibility: The Map-Reading Mishap in Luxembourg 35:44 Team Rules: Fines for Tardiness and Time Management 38:03 April Fool's: The Kim Clijsters "Splits Class" Prank 41:42 Locker Room Superstitions: The Hotel Phone Bill and Blacklisted Accreditations 44:38 Aryna Sabalenka’s Mindset Evolution and Data vs. Intuition 48:35 Visual Learning: "Blanket Drills" and the 17-Minute Rally 54:26 Rec Room: The Future of Analytics in Tennis 59:38 Closing Thoughts and "What Would Carl Do?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsKim Clijsters· Host0:00
Here we go. Make the fun, make the fun, fun, fun. Make the fun, make the fun, fun, fun. Make the fun, make the fun, fun, fun Hi, everyone. Welcome back to our new episode of Love All. Very excited today. I feel like I'm excited every time that we start, but today I'm, I'm super excited 'cause it takes me back through, you know, a big part of my tennis life. And, um, from a young age when I was 10 or 11, started working with Carl Maes, who we have, um, on, on our, uh, on our show today. And, um, really excited to pick his brain more and, um, and kinda learn a little bit about, you know, why he did some things, um, you know, when I was younger. And, and w- we're at the stage where we're talking about changing surfaces and going from the hard courts to the clay courts, and kinda just ... Uh, now it's my turn to dissect his brain a little bit and see why he did, um, you know, some of the things and what was the thought process behind it. So super excited to talk to him.
Blair Henley· Co-host0:51
Uh, okay. Should we start with some Henley's Headlines, Kim?
Kim Clijsters· Host0:54
Go for it, Blair.
Blair Henley· Co-host0:55
All right. Jessica Pegula back-to-back wins in Charleston. It's her 11th career title. She's currently ranked five in the world. She's been as high as three, but gosh, you feel like the way that she is playing this year, we are destined to see that number go up. Um, she was the first player to repeat in Charleston since Serena, uh, or to go back-to-back or defend a title since 2012, 2013, Serena Williams. Uh, and as an added bonus, we talked about this a few weeks ago, Kim, the Charleston tournament made their total prize money purse equal with what