The 2025 MGM Macau Tennis Masters returned to the city this weekend with a spotlight on women’s leadership in sport, opening with a curated talk at MGM Macau that brought together tennis legends Li Na and Conchita Martínez and rising star Alexandra Eala for a cross-generational discussion on passion, pressure, and life beyond professional tennis.
The fourth voice, Russian tennis player Mirra Andreeva, was unable to attend the talk due to illness.
The talk was themed “Professional Passion and Life Beyond the Court,” showcasing gender diversity and women’s leadership in sport, and detailing stories involving deep family influences, culture, managing pressure, hard work, and the question of what happens next when the last point is played.
Family and first courts
Li Na, the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam singles title, shared a memory from her childhood that helped her find the right passion for her.
“My athletic career actually began with the sport of badminton, but transitioned to tennis because my coach felt my movements were more suited to tennis as a sport, and the rest is history.”
Martínez, with a career-high singles ranking of No. 2 in the world and a Wimbledon champion, now a respected coach and captain who has guided players deep into Grand Slams, explained her roots and how her love for tennis came about. “We were living in Monzón, then moved to Madrid where there were no tennis courts around, and when I was eight years old, I moved back to Monzón and then there were two tennis courts. They were not clay; they were more like cement.”
She continued, “And so I saw my father, my brothers, and a lot of people going down to play tennis. So one day I came down, and that’s how I started. There was a fronton, a wall where you play against it the whole time, and it was love at first sight.”
Martínez reflected on how she was able to go professional, stating, “The Federation saw me play, so I moved to Barcelona to practice and to have more people to play with when I was 12. At that time, you know, you start practicing more seriously and playing tournaments here and there, and that’s when I realized that, you know, this is what I wanted to do and that I was good at it.”
The final speaker, Eala from the Philippines, is rewriting history for her country.
She became the first Filipina to win a junior Grand Slam singles title and has since broken into the top tier of the women’s game.
She explained, “Family support was really the pillar of my very young career. There was not really a structure or any pathway for Filipinos to make it big because no one has done it before.”
Her journey was initiated by her older brother and a grandfather who approached the game with “tough love.”
Going against the tide
When asked about financial or government support at the beginning of their careers, Martínez and Li Na both agreed that more support was given to male players and that over time, things improved for women in the sport.
Both coaches acknowledged that early support systems heavily favored men.
“I think the women’s side was even tougher than the men’s side,” said Li Na. She recalled a teacher urging her to quit in sixth grade, a moment countered by her father’s defiant support. “There can only be one champion. But if you go to university, maybe there will be a thousand or ten thousand,” he told the teacher, a statement Li Na credits with giving her the freedom to pursue her career.
Coaching in a new era
Martínez explained her approach to coaching a generation different from hers, one that places heavy emphasis on data tracking. “I try not to be too obsessed with that and, you know, maintain what is simple, which is training, practicing, keeping your routines, and doing those things.”
She continued, “There are many differences with my era. Of course, everything is evolving. There is much more knowledge in every department. Tennis has changed, and the times have changed. And it is good that everybody can use the new technology to become a little bit better at the sport.”
Balance and legacy
Li Na, now focused on motherhood, has stepped away from closely following professional tennis. Her athletic legacy is a recent discovery for her children, who were amused to learn their mom was once a player. This new dynamic creates a humorous disconnect when she attempts to coach them, as her instructions about focus are met with bewilderment.
On the other hand, her children do not find much interest in becoming tennis athletes; for them, it comes last on the list of sports they play, with golf and swimming coming before it.
She also highlighted the universal challenge of bridging communication gaps between generations, finding that her experienced, champion’s mindset doesn’t always translate to coaching her own kids.
Martínez describes coaching as a natural extension of her lifelong passion for tennis. Her transition began even while playing, as she instinctively analyzed opponents’ games during warm-ups. After retiring, she explored various roles in the sport—commentating, directing—but ultimately found her true calling in coaching. She emphasized that genuine love for the game is essential, framing coaching not just as a job, but as a fulfilling passion that allows her to engage deeply with tennis’s strategic details.
All three athletes share a common struggle in finding balance between their tennis careers and their personal lives.
Martínez added, “It’s not easy to find the balance, because if you’re not tough, where does the respect come from?” Ricaela Diputado
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