Today’s post is all about the co-owner of Aria Sportscape Academy, avid tennis lover, and ex-professional tennis player. Magali has a deep love for tennis and her love and passion for the sport have taken her to great heights in her tennis career. Today, we are learning everything there is to know about Magali. So, what better way to have a one-on-one sit down with her?
Magali De Lattre | Ex-professional Tennis Player & Aria Sportscape Academy Co-owner
Magali, we are so excited to sit down and have a chat with you today about your outstanding professional tennis career.
Let’s start from the very beginning, when did you first fall in love with tennis? Was there a moment when you knew that you wanted tennis to be such a major part of your career and life?
I'm so pleased to be sitting down with you and having a chat about my true love, tennis. Ok, how it all began. I started playing tennis at a very young age following in my dad's footsteps, Vincent de Lattre, on the tennis court in Switzerland. When my family and I moved to Portugal I was 6 years old and during that time I enrolled in tennis and ballet, but Tennis was always my priority, I had just fallen in love with playing the sport.
By the time I turned 12 years old I had spent so many hours on the court and really built up my skills, I decided to push myself as far as I could and try to become a professional tennis player. I had one goal in my mind: to work as hard as I could to be the best player that I could possibly be. From that moment everything changed, I started practicing 4 hours a day for 6 days a week instead of just 1 hour once a week. From here my career started.
Magali De Lattre | Ex-professional Tennis Player & Aria Sportscape Academy Co-owner
What was the first tournament you won, was this a ground-breaking moment in your career?
The first international tournament I won was in Portugal in Porto Santo in 2005 in a beautiful Island near Madeira. That tournament was the ground-breaking moment that gave me a lot of confidence for the next tournaments in my career. Following the week that I won my first tournament, I was on a winning streak with my wins. I won the following tournaments ‘Nationals Under 18’ and ‘Women’s Nationals’, from there on my professional career was on the rise as I reached the top 350 tennis players in the world in 2008.
You were ranked globally as a professional tennis player, what number did you rank at?
In 2011 I reached my highest ranking 334 in the world, following my 2 international victories. With this ranking, I was able to compete in a couple of major tournaments in my career such as the ‘WTA Dubai Duty-Free Championships’, ‘WTA Pattaya Open’ and ‘WTA Estoril Open’.
We are aware that you were the only female to win an international tournament in Syria. Can you tell us about this tournament and the game that led you to victory?
This tournament was very special for me, during this time I had just had knee surgery so after recovering from my operation and healing, I lost all my rankings and I split with my tennis coach for many years. When I went to Syria I didn’t have many expectations as I wanted to have fun and just enjoy the game. I truly believe that I won the tournament in Syria because my main goal was to have fun on the court.
My mindset was very relaxed and at ease. I was in a country I had never been to so I just wanted to enjoy my time there. This lack of pressure and love for the game led me to victory. The hospitality in Syria was amazing as well, and the tournament was one of the best tournaments I had ever participated in. We had around 3000 people watching us in the ceremony, the organization took all the players to a traditional lunch and they really took care of us. We all felt very special, but unfortunately, the tournament ended due to the ongoing war and conflict within Syria.
In your professional tennis career, how many single international titles have you won?
In total, I have won 13 International tournaments. 9 were in singles and 4 were in doubles.
Magali De Lattre with Roger Federer | Ex-professional Tennis Player & Aria Sportscape Academy Co-owner
Is there anything else about your professional tennis career that you can share with us?
There are so many things to share, I’m not sure where to start. What I truly love about playing in tournaments around the world is how often you get to travel, experience new cultures, and meet new people. It really opens your eyes to the world. For some of the tournaments, we used to stay in local houses in India, Morocco, France, and so many other countries.
The welcoming spirit from the locals and organizers really makes you feel so comfortable being so far away from home. Not every tournament we stayed in 5-star hotels. Sometimes the accommodation was beautiful, sometimes they weren’t the best of places with cockroaches, crickets, and other bugs roaming around the room. I remember once I was in the suburbs of Algeria and I had to take a shower with slippers on as the floors were caking my feet with dirt. An experience I will never forget. Once in Israel, we were just 15 KM away from the bombings by the Palestinians. In Pakistan, at a tournament, I ended up getting food poisoning, not the most enjoyable experience I can say. When we were in Lebanon we had to physically remove ourselves from the area we were in and get into a car and drive as fast as we could as there was unrest and war going on in the country at the time.
These experiences across the globe have made me a stronger, wiser person. Being in unfamiliar situations in unfamiliar countries has really impacted my view of the world and solidified my love for the game. I always did whatever I had to for the love of tennis and my desire to reach the top.
Magali De Lattre | Ex-professional Tennis Player & Aria Sportscape Academy Co-owner
What is the most memorable moment that has stuck with you to this day as a professional tennis player?
I have so many memorable moments when it comes to my professional tennis career, but I believe the one that really comes to mind was when I won an international tournament in Dubai in 2008, I was then invited to play the WTA Dubai Duty-Free Championship singles and doubles. This ended up being the highest international tournament that I have ever played.
Now, let’s get to Aria Sportscape Academy, indoor tennis, and padel courts in Dubai. What was the driving force to open up state-of-the-art indoor tennis and padel facilities in Dubai?
I have been in Dubai for many years coaching tennis since 2011 to be precise. Dubai is a very hot country in the summer months (as we all know by now). It is unbearable the most of time. With approximately 6-7 months of extremely hot weather here in the UAE and the majority of tennis courts are outdoors. For many years people have been dreaming of playing indoor tennis and indoor padel in Dubai because at the end of the day, you perform better in cooler environments and you get to stay on the courts for longer. This is the exact reason why we decided to open Aria Sportscape Academy, the finest indoor tennis and padel courts in Dubai.
People can come into our state-of-the-art facilities when the temperatures soar over 45 degrees outside. or even during the winter. Aria Sportscape Academy opened its doors in July of 2022 with 2 indoor tennis courts and an indoor padel court. We decided to add an indoor padel court as it’s growing very fast in the UAE and people are very interested to learn and play sociably with friends or family.
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