Tennis fans across the world held their breath in front of the television screen on Sunday as the ball whizzed between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, finalists at the Wimbledon men’s singles finals. After losing the first set 4-6 to Alcaraz, Sinner won the next three 6-4, emerging victorious – the first Italian to do so.
Just a day before, Amanda Anisimova and Iga Świątek battled it out for the Women’s Singles title, with Świątek decisively winning both sets 6-0 to secure the trophy.
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With such spectacular games, it is little wonder that tennis continues to be one of the most popular sports in the world. Macao has not been immune to tennis fever – it will host the tennis event of China’s 15th National Games in November, as well as the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) Tour Professional Finals in December.
With so much going on in the world of tennis, there’s never been a better time to enrol in one of the classes below and brush up on those tweener shots. Perhaps you might surprise yourself and find you have what it takes to become Macao’s very own Roger Federer or Venus Williams.
Macao International Tennis Centre
Macao International Tennis Centre (MITC) offers all-inclusive tennis classes for students across every age group and skill levels, and says it imparts the necessary skills to turn them into proficient players.
The head instructor, Ram Raj, speaks English and is an International Tennis Federation Level 2 coach who has a wealth of experience under his belt. He was involved with the Macao Tennis Association for five years, during which he collaborated with the Macao Team for the East Asian Games and built up their programs.
[See more: Macao will host the Chinese Tennis Association Tour Pro Finals in December]
MITC offers a broad range of class types, including individual, semi-individual, small group, adult and mini lessons. There is also a year-round tennis camp program that features intensive drilling, with an emphasis on tactical training, point play and match play. Classes are held in public tennis courts in Taipa, with prices on application.
For further details, get in touch with Coach Ram by visiting his Facebook page.
Dream Star Tennis (夢想之星網球協會）
Dream Star Tennis is a tennis school in the Red Market area, and the first in Macao to offer indoor tennis lessons for children.
With eighteen years of tennis coaching experience, founder Ramson Cheong was inspired to open up his own indoor tennis training centre after visiting different cities, including Shanghai, where he witnessed children being taught tennis in a range of ways, often in limited spaces.
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Dream Star Tennis currently has a range of classes, some of which are available in English. The academy provides 45-minute indoor tennis trial classes for children and adults, which cost 99 patacas and 198 patacas respectively, as well as regular classes for children.
Dream Star Tennis can be contacted here.
Macao Tennis Youth Academy (澳門少年網球學校)
Almost two decades since its founding, Macao Tennis Youth Academy remains one of the best places for children to receive tennis training in Macao.
The school is jointly organised by the Sports Bureau and the Macau Tennis Association and classes, which cost 150 patacas, are taught in a systematic manner by experienced coaches from the Tennis Association at Rua de Ténis in Cotai.
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However, there is one caveat – the school has a limited number of seats and can only afford to train the best of the best picked out through their annual Selection Day. The recruitment process for this year’s classes has already ended, but the new round of selection for the upcoming year should begin around November.
Get updates about the academy’s future classes by checking out this page.
Macau Tennis Culture Promotion Association (澳門網球文化推廣協會)
The Macau Tennis Culture Promotion Association offers lessons for children and adults alike. Their school boasts small class sizes, with a one-to-three ratio of coaches to students.
Association President Wong Wai Ji was the winner of the men’s singles event at the 2015 Macao Tennis Championships and the men’s doubles event in 2017.
Every year, the association hosts the Macau Youth Doubles Tennis Tournament, where participants can compete against others their age. Over the summer, they’re also providing a training bootcamp Monday through Friday for small groups of kids aged four to sixteen. Depending on students’ skill level, the camp costs 1,300 to 1,450 patacas per week.
For their regular program, prices are available upon request.
The association can be contacted through this page.
– With reporting by Kenny Fong and Kayla Chan
