Ella McDonald on her rise into the ITF Junior top 10, a first pro title and takeaways from the United Cup
With a current junior world ranking at No.14 and a career-high at world No.8, 17-year-old Ella McDonald is Great Britain’s highest ranked player across the ITF tour.
The young Brit has wracked up an impressive six junior singles and 10 doubles titles in her career so far – including the J1 singles and doubles crowns in Durban, as well as the J2 Santo Domingo.
As one of Britain’s rising stars looks to start her journey from the top of the junior game to competing regularly on the pro tours from next year – we caught up with McDonald to chat about how she got started in tennis, some of the highlights of her career so far and her ambitions for the coming months and years.
“Originally my Grandparents used to take my sister and I would just tag along,” McDonald recalls. “They would take me along and I would just hit against the wall while she played. Eventually they looked at getting a coach but they couldn’t decide if I should be right or left handed. In the end we went with left-handed – which was a good choice!
“I went from South Ribble to a bigger club at Bolton Arena where I joined the academy – my Mum was the one who did everything with me, she took me to sessions, tournaments, everything, so I’m really grateful to her.
“I still keep in touch with my old coach – Danielle Gallagher – and she actually came to Wimbledon to watch me last year so we speak quite a lot.”
Her experience at SW19 was one the McDonald remembers well as one of her favourite moments on court – getting her first win at her home Slam against Julie Struplova. But while she’s immensely proud of her achievements so far and having broken into the top 10, McDonald remains laser focused on what is yet to come.
“It feels great, but I don’t want to stop there,” said the Brit. “I want to keep working hard and to keep progressing because there’s always room for improvement, but of course it’s nice to be up there with the other big names in the juniors.
“I enjoyed playing Junior Wimbledon last year, especially in front of the home crowd for the first time and I had the opportunity to play on Court 18, which is quite a big court!”
When we were training, the other players would come and watch us as well, give us tips and it just gave me extra motivation to get to their level in a few years’ time.
A new season has brought new challenges and more career firsts for the 17-year-old. As she starts to make her transition from the junior events to the pro tours, McDonald teamed up with the Great Britain United Cup squad earlier this year and has already won her first ITF World Tennis Tour title in the W25 Glasgow doubles with fellow Brit Maia Lumsden.
“The United Cup was amazing, the atmosphere, everything,” McDonald exclaimed with a beaming smile across her face. “Everyone was so welcoming, and it was just a great vibe. I got to play some practice matches and then being there to support the team was great fun.
“Getting to watch those guys play and seeing the level that I want to get to was a real highlight. Being able to see players from other countries as well like (Rafael) Nadal was amazing to watch.
“When we were training, the other players would come and watch us as well, give us tips and it just gave me extra motivation to get to their level in a few years’ time.
“Winning in Glasgow was great originally, I wasn’t meant to play the doubles there, it was a last-minute thing. Maia (Lumsden) is a great person; I train with her sometimes in Stirling and to play with her and win the title just made it a really good week.
“I can’t wait for the grass season to begin but I have to get through the clay first. Hopefully I’ll progress through the Junior Slams this year and then move onto the pro tour – starting at the ITF events coming up in Nottingham. I want to play a bit of both at the moment to get the transition between the two.”
So, what can you expect when you see McDonald play, maybe for the first time during the summer?
“I would say I’m an aggressive baseline style of player but I do also like to chuck in the variety – come into the net, play a few slices, stuff like that. I just want to be creative in the game.
“For quite a while I looked up to Petra Kvitova and at the moment it’s more Elena Rybakina, because I feel like they both represent my game style the most. I do still look up to all the Brits as well, there’s loads of up-and-coming players and they’re doing really well at the moment, which is added motivation for girls our age.”
You can watch McDonald and all the other Brits in action at the three back-to-back ITF events in Nottingham.