Australian tennis, from tour stops to pathways.
The First Serve is a broad tennis magazine built around interviews, tournament check-ins, and specialist side shows. It follows Australian and international tennis through player journeys, coaching debates, college pathways, wheelchair tennis, and the practical details behind performance.
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The First Serve covers tennis like a sport with many doors into it. The main thread is professional tennis, especially from an Australian point of view, but the show keeps widening the frame. A broadcast from Indian Wells can sit beside a junior interview, a college pathway update, a Queensland tennis community conversation, or a wheelchair tennis roundtable. That range gives the feed a lived-in feel. It is not only chasing headlines. It is interested in how players get better, how systems shape them, and what life around the tour actually asks of people. Brett Phillips brings tournament context and Australian tennis perspective, while themed episodes hand the microphone to conversations closer to clubs, colleges, athletes, coaches, and specialists. The tone is casual and quick. Guests are usually invited to tell the story, then pushed toward the practical detail behind it. Gareth Keating talks about Europe teaching him that rough-looking opponents can still be tactically ruthless. Ajit Rai describes the daily work of doubles, mobility, recovery, and staying ready under pressure. Daniel Jovanovski talks through junior rankings, wildcards, college possibilities, and the pressure of choosing a route. Alex Bell turns nutrition into something as trainable as a serve, especially for young players managing matches and recovery. The college coverage follows athletes moving through American programs and tracks bigger questions facing college tennis. The Push gives wheelchair tennis sustained attention, including goals, headspace, and the energy around young Australian players. The result is a show for people who care about the sport beneath the broadcast layer. It values scorelines, but it also values preparation, travel, identity, opportunity, and repetition. Some stretches are very tennis-specific. That is part of the appeal. The First Serve sounds closest to a knowledgeable courtside conversation that keeps finding another corner of the game to open up.
Made for: For tennis followers who want more than match recaps: Australian fans, coaches, parents, junior players, college-pathway families, and listeners curious about wheelchair tennis and player development.
What sets it apart: The show connects elite tournament coverage with the working parts of tennis: clubs, juniors, college programs, nutrition, doubles training, and wheelchair pathways. Few tennis feeds move so easily between live-radio scale and ground-level player stories.
The First Serve is your HOME OF TENNIS. Featuring an all year round dedicated weekly two hour 'live' tennis program, the only one of its kind on commercial radio in Australia that is also podcast right here, supported by themed podcasts, a strong online/social media presence and print content via our website - Check out our home at www.thefirstserve.com.au. Heading up The First Serve coverage is leading tennis commentator Brett Phillips. Brett is host of our dedicated two-hour weekly radio show and leading commentator at all the Grand Slams & on the ground at the key tennis tournaments through the year, along with the First Serve team providing tennis content via radio, podcasts, online and…
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
The First Serve makes tennis's training, touring and development systems clear through detailed conversations with players and people working around them.
The First Serve follows tennis from professional competition into the places that shape players away from centre court. Brett Phillips handles studio interviews, while programs such as The Grind and The Push use co-hosted conversations to cover touring life and wheelchair…
This is where your tennis habit graduates from scorelines to fueling plans and doubles positioning.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Gareth Keating argues for more match play, less over-coaching, and a sharper feel for real competition.
Queensland tennis is the lens here, with Gareth Keating's playing background, time in Europe, interest in paddle, Metro RA company membership, and connection to Tennis Gear all feeding into a practical conversation about development.
A candid tennis conversation about adapting the work, absorbing losses, and chasing the Australian Open with friends and family in mind.
The Grind sits with Ajit Rai inside the daily work of a New Zealand Davis Cup representative, tracing the shift from career-high rankings of 417 in singles and 222 in doubles toward the more specific demands of building a doubles game.
Alex Bell links tennis nutrition with the everyday habits behind energy, comfort, and recovery.
Alex Bell brings a tennis background from Yarrawonga and Tennis Victoria development squads to a clear, practical discussion of eating around matches and training.
A relaxed 2026 return with wheelchair tennis momentum, Australian tour camaraderie, and Gin Woodman's next step in focus.
The Push Wheelchair Tennis Podcast begins its 2026 run with Tim Connolly and Heath Casper-Davidson reunited after their previous recording at the Masters in China the prior November.
Matosevic gives a direct account of the ITIA investigation, disputed evidence, and why he stopped cooperating.
Marinko Matosevic's choice to step away from an ITIA investigation gives The First Serve a pointed tennis interview shaped around his own version of events.
Two hosts break down the ATP and WTA tour week, daily through every Grand Slam.
College tennis, from rankings to real consequences.
Sharp tennis talk from inside the tour grind.
The episode recaps the 2025 Deminaur junior tour finals held at Sydney Olympic Park.
Co-hosts recap recent padel tournaments in Coffs Harbour and Sydney, discussing community vibes, heat challenges, and sport growth.
Lachlan Puyol introduces the fourth season of Play USA, a podcast about the US college tennis pathway for Australian athletes, and explains the mission of Play USA Tennis Pathways.
Alex Osborne introduces new co-host Tom Fancutt, a professional tennis player returning to tour after a suspension, for the 2026 season of The Grind podcast.
Former Australian tennis player Marinko Matosevic gives an exclusive interview to The First Serve, confessing to a prohibited blood transfusion in Mexico in 2018.
The First Serve's Tennis in Queensland episode with Gareth Keating follows his 37 years in tennis, from Brisbane junior tournaments to France and paddle in Queensland.
The Grind S04 E02 puts Alex Osborne and Tom Fancart in Timaru with Ajit Rai, who introduces himself as a New Zealand Davis Cup representative with a career-high singles ranking of 417, a doubles peak of 222, four ITF singles titles, and 15 doubles titles.
On The First Serve, Brett Phillips interviews Alex Bell, an accredited dietitian and sports dietitian, about nutrition for tennis players from junior level through elite competition.
A tribute to University of Tennessee tennis player Catherine Aulia, highlighting her college career statistics and personal qualities as described by teammates.
Interview with 18-year-old Australian junior tennis player Daniel Jovanovski about his recent J300 title win in Malaysia and his collaboration with Andrew Harris.
Tim Connolly, Heath Casper-Davidson, and 16-year-old Gin Woodman frame 2026 around integrated events in Brisbane, Sydney, and Adelaide, plus a tough run through Korea, Japan, and Roland Garros qualifying.
Brett Phillips's Easter Monday edition of The First Serve surveys ATP and WTA results from Marrakesh, Houston, Bucharest, Charleston, and Bogota.
This episode features interviews with ITA CEO David Mullins on the state of college tennis and with freshman Ned Simpson about his experience at Meridian Community College.
Brett Phillips previews the Indian Wells tennis tournament, highlighting an Australian player's impressive run.