New Zealand hasn’t had a Wimbledon champion since 1913. Twelve-year-old Cantabrian Tatiana Na wants to change that – and now she has the backing of a former coach of Serena Williams to help her.
“I think she has huge potential,” world-renowned French tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou says. “I don’t remember having seen a player under 12 hit the ball that well. She’s already part of a small group of the best players in the world in her age.”
After seeing Na in action recently, Mouratoglou selected her as one of only 10 players worldwide to receive support from his Champ’Seed Foundation.
It means Na can access his personal guidance and train at his academy on the Cote d’Azur when she’s in Europe – just like foundation alumni Coco Gauff and others have done on their journeys to Grand Slam glory.
As New Zealand’s leading player for her age, Na took her first trip to Europe this year to test herself against elite young players from across the globe.
She turned heads at the IMG Future Stars tournament in Athens, Greece, in April, where she won five of her six matches, defeating the 12-and-under champions from Spain, France, Denmark, Great Britain and Peru – losing only to the world number one from China.
She then went on to win a 12-and-under category 1 Tennis Europe event in Villeneuve-Loubet, France – defeating the top European player in the final. And she made her first 14-and-under category 3 Tennis Europe final in Marathon, Greece.
Na says she was surprised to discover she could hold her own against the top-tier players of her age in Europe. Similarly, her coach Sebastian Lavie says even he was amazed by how she handled herself on the world stage.
“It was her first big international trip, so you never know how someone’s going to manage it, but she exceeded my expectations to be honest,” he says.
When offers of representation arrived from IMG and other talent management agencies, it reinforced his belief that Na has all the necessary qualities to become an international tennis star.
“I’ve worked with the best players in the country, but she’s at a different level in terms of what’s she’s achieving now,” Lavie says. “Even at 12 years, you can see someone’s potential through their physical attributes, their family background, mindset, and how professional they are.
“The interest from someone like Patrick Mouratoglou, who is pretty much the biggest name in tennis, and the offers we’re getting from brands and agencies, isn’t because they think she can be in the top 100 in the world, it’s because they think she can be one of the best.”
It didn’t take Mouratoglou long to recognise Na’s potential when he first spied her explosive groundstrokes in Athens, Lavie says.
“Within the first three points of her first game, she hit three forehand winners and he basically said, ‘After this match you’re going to have all the agents come and try and sign her,’” he recalls. “She won the match easily and then, straightaway, four agents asked if we could sit down.”
Mouratoglou says he perceives qualities in Tatiana that could see her reach the pinnacle of tennis, highlighting her drive, dedication and professionalism.
“A player like Tatiana can put New Zealand on the world map of tennis,” he says. “Year after year she will develop and progress. She’ll play the most important international tournaments, win some, then play qualifications for the Grand Slams, and maybe one day, she’ll be in the very end of those Grand Slams.”
The growing interest in Na even extends to major international brands seeking to sign the promising youngster.
“We’ve got offers – Nike, Lacoste, Adidas…,” says Lavie. “It’s important for her to be part of that process and make decisions about what racket she wants, what clothing she wants, but also to stay humble and grounded. It’s the potential they believe in, not where she is yet; she needs to work and earn it in the future.”
Being a young tennis prodigy is something Lavie knows plenty about. A former Davis Cup player for New Zealand, Lavie moved to France at the age of 11 to pursue a tennis career.
“As a 12-year-old I was among the best in the world, probably one of the top three based on my results. So I was in a similar situation to her in many ways, and I definitely understand; I know the pitfalls, and the hype that you can get caught up in,” he says.
Moving alone across the world as a child to dedicate himself to tennis taught Lavie as much about what not to do as it did about how to succeed.
Turning to coaching in his 20s, the now 34-year-old went on to create the Lavie Tennis Academy seven years ago, so that Kiwis could experience a world-class coaching and training environment without having to leave the country.
“I moved overseas because there was nothing here for me. But I don’t think we should be sending 11-year-olds away. At Lavie Academy, we want to bridge that gap a little and support players until they are mature enough to base themselves overseas,” he says.
Tatiana – a Year 8 student at Cobham Intermediate in Christchurch – trains at Te Kura Hagley Park Tennis Club and travels to Auckland regularly to train at Lavie Academy, too.
Following in the footsteps of her 16-year-old brother Alvin Na – the number one tennis player for his age in New Zealand – it’s not an altogether unfamiliar life for Tatiana so far.
She says her brother’s tennis prowess motivates her to lift her game: “It makes me work harder – trying to get on his level.” She also takes inspiration from her favourite tennis players, Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz.
Na isn’t sure where she gets her athleticism from, saying her parents, Neville and Lili Na, weren’t athletes before they moved to New Zealand from China as young adults. And they certainly didn’t have tennis aspirations for their children, sending them along to the local tennis club around the corner simply because of its proximity.
Na began playing tennis at the age of four, tagging along with her older brother “just for fun”. She started to take it more seriously around seven, while also doing rhythmic gymnastics for six years, a sport Lavie says proved to be an ideal preparation for tennis.
“Her coordination and timing is really incredible. I think rhythmic gymnastics is probably one of the best sports for a tennis player to do when they’re young,” he says.
Both sports require high training volumes, so Na had to choose between the two, her love for tennis winning out. Her passion for the sport is easy to spot, Lavie says, especially the way she studies games intently whenever she gets the chance.
“When we were in Europe, she’d watch the other girls play and really focus on it,” he says. “She has a phone, but I’ve never seen her use it. She’s very driven in what she wants to do.”
Despite grounds for optimism, Lavie knows there are significant challenges ahead – not least, securing funds for such a high-cost endeavour.
“Coming from New Zealand, the biggest challenge is still the financial aspect – trying to find people and companies that want to get behind a project like this.”
Lavie has seen a number of New Zealand-born players end up representing other countries simply because they offered so much more. He is grateful to those who have already got behind Na, including Tennis New Zealand, Nick Mowbray, and Manuka Doctor.
“We’ve had a few Kiwi players in the past that we’ve lost to other countries because people haven’t backed them enough. I understand it’s a risk to back a 12-year-old, but the nature of tennis is that if you don’t do it at a young age, it’s too late later on,” he says.
As well as trying to ensure top players can fly the flag for New Zealand, Lavie is conscious of finding the right balance between pushing his players and not burning them out – finding the fine line between the two enables long-term success.
Tennis careers start young and Lavie predicts Na will play her first junior Grand Slam by the age of 14 or 15. He sees her next few years as transitional ones, keeping New Zealand as her base, peppered with frequent trips overseas and potentially switching to online schooling.
In time, he envisages she will need to be based in the Northern Hemisphere like all top players. But for now, he’s convinced the best way for her to achieve her goals is by having “the best of both worlds” – here in New Zealand with her family and in Europe with the world’s best players and coaches.
It helps that Na is “incredibly intrinsically motivated and knows exactly what she wants,” Lavie points out. At the recent IMG Future Stars event in Greece, the 24 invited players from around the world were interviewed in front of an audience and a camera.
When asked for her ultimate goal, Na didn’t miss a beat: “I want to win Wimbledon,” she said.
Whatever the future holds, Tatiana Na is a name to watch.
