We spoke with María José Martínez, a professional tennis player born in Yecla, in the Region of Murcia. During her professional career, she reached 19th in the world and has won several titles on the WTA professional tour, 21 in doubles (she was ranked 4th in the world) and 5 in singles. She was the first woman to play for the national team after her maternity. She also holds the position of vice president of the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation. Now, retired as a professional player, she has embarked on a new adventure as director of the first tournament in her city, the 1st International Women’s Tennis Open “City of Yecla”.
How did the idea of setting up the I Open International Women’s Tennis Tournament “City of Yecla” come about?
I retired as a professional tennis player at the end of 2019 and I had always considered that the moment I retire I would return to my land. Due to life circumstances, I continued in Barcelona until September 2021, when I came to Yecla. I began to frequent the club where I was trained and one day, speaking with the president, I told him that it would be good to do an ITS here, at the level of the Region of Murcia, since there was no international women’s tournament. We discussed the issue several times until we took it seriously and began to ask the federation for available dates for the tournament. Little by little we embarked until we have achieved it.
Well, and above all in your own city, what has it meant to you?
It is quite important because until now I had played as a professional, I had been in a school as a coach, but I had not exercised the work of director and the fact of directing it in my lifelong club… It is true that there is a lot of work behind it, because I have always experienced it from the other side, I went to tournaments as a player, I found everything set up, I played and that’s it, but when you have to be on the other side, organizing and coordinating all the different services and areas, you realize the complexity.
You have had players of 14 different nationalities, including Spanish…
We do not have many hotels here, we have had to divide them into hotels and I have been in charge of coordinating everything. The closest airport is Alicante, we were coordinating the transport if they arrived at the same time so that it would be a little cheaper. The advantage that I have had is that as I have been a player, I know the needs that the players have and that the tournaments should provide to facilitate as much as possible that they are well. We have also offered a service that is very common in the United States and South America, but not in Spain. It consists of different families hosting players at home, in such a way that it is a privilege for the family to have a player at home and for the player it is an important saving, because the fact of having to travel away from home every week means an economic effort. It has worked very well and the feedback from the players has been super good, we have had 5 players in the houses of different families and they have ended up very happy, both the families and the players.
Would you have liked to have played this tournament in Yecla?
I would have loved it, but a few years ago in Spain we barely had tournaments. Now the Spanish Tennis Federation is doing a great job and we have tournaments almost every week. That makes it easier for us to have more players in the future.
Who have supported you and promoted this tournament?
The most important thing is the budget and financing, we have ended up supporting the Yecla City Council, which has been co-organizer of the tournament, at the level of the Autonomous Community, the Costa Cálida Ministry of Sport and Tourism, the Tennis Federation of the Region of Murcia, the Spanish Tennis Federation and we have looked for other sponsors and collaborators.
How has the tournament preparation been?
When we already close a date, we create a tournament commission between various partners, presidents and the president of the club. The fact of having a team behind, each one dealing with a different area, has facilitated the organization, but we have been working on this for a year. We haven’t closed many things until the date is getting closer, but we’ve been moving the issue of sponsors for quite some time.
In addition to the tennis tournament, you have organized 2 round tables…
Yes, in two locations with two different sponsors we have held two round tables related to women, one of them on ‘Women and sport’ and the other on ‘Women and business’. It is important to have these types of days in the tournament calendar.
Will there be a next edition of the tournament in Yecla?
The truth is that we are still closing this one, the tournament ended last Sunday, but we are just completing payments and closing things with companies. But the idea is to continue, the most important thing is to consolidate it and when we can, grow. And we have already been contacted by a couple of companies saying that they want to collaborate because they say that this sporting environment had not been lived in Yecla for a long time.
How has the situation of women’s tennis changed, if we compare it to a few years ago when you were a professional player?
I think we have evolved, but we still have a lot to do, although we are on the right track. It is true that a few years ago women’s tennis was barely televised and now it is being given more promotion. It also helps that there are players like Garbiñe Muguruza and Paula Badosa who are up in the ranking. The fact that women’s tennis is televised means that many girls have more role models and that contributes to further development and there are more future tennis players.
What do you think of the role that Iberdrola plays in supporting women’s sports?
I think that initiatives like Iberdrola’s are super important to make women a little more visible. We have the same right as men to be present in the media and to be seen.