The Joy of Padel podcast with Marta Ortega
Ever wondered what it’s like to walk the same corridors as Nadal and Federer? Martita Ortega, professional padel player who is currently world number 7 (and former world #1), shares her incredible experience at Roland Garros for the Greenweez Paris Major 2024, where she got through to the quarter-finals with her partner Sofia Araújo. Marta, who is also a medical doctor, discusses the mental preparation required for each match, including dealing with unpredictable conditions. Discover how she navigates the challenges of padel, from choosing the right partner to the importance of communication on and off the court.
In the latest episode of the Joy of Padel podcast, Marta discusses:
- Mental Resilience: Adapting to ever-changing weather and playing conditions.
- Partner Selection: Why trust and belief in the team are crucial.
- Communication: The key to success both during matches and in daily interactions.
Experiencing Roland Garros
– Marta Ortega shares her awe at playing in the same venue as tennis legends like Nadal and Federer.
– Describes the surreal feeling of using the same facilities as famous players.
Adapting to Weather Conditions
– Marta discusses the mental preparation required for varying weather conditions at tournaments.
– Emphasizes the importance of staying positive and adaptable, regardless of whether matches are played indoors or outdoors.
Court Conditions and Game Dynamics
– Comparison of court speeds between different venues, such as Valladolid and Rotterdam.
– Marta explains the impact of altitude and indoor settings on padel gameplay.
Transition from World Padel Tour to FIP
– Marta expresses gratitude towards the World Padel Tour for its role in the sport’s growth.
– Highlights the fresh energy and historic venues brought by the FIP, while acknowledging the need for patience during the sport’s expansion.
Rule Changes and Preferences
– Discussion on the Golden Point rule, with Marta preferring the traditional advantage system.
– Suggests potential improvements for tournament settings, like higher fences in certain venues.
Choosing a Padel Partner
– Marta prioritizes trust and mutual belief in the team when selecting a partner.
– Stresses the importance of a supportive team environment, regardless of match outcomes.
Communication on and off the Court
– Marta highlights the critical role of communication with her partner, Sophie, during matches.
– Describes how effective communication helps in adapting strategies and maintaining team morale.
– Off the court, Marta and her team maintain a light-hearted atmosphere, which she believes is vital for a successful partnership.
To find out more about Marta Ortega:
- Marta Ortega’s official profile on FIP
- Find or follow on Instagram: martits14
- Check out Marta’s eponymous site: MartitaOrtega
- Or check out Martita Ortega’s YouTube channel
To listen to the show:
To listen to The Joy of Padel podcast, you can use the embedded player above, or go find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any number of other podcasting services listed here.
Send in your questions or reactions:
Please send me your questions — as an audio file if you’d like — to nminterdial@gmail.com. Otherwise, below, you’ll find the show notes and, of course, you are invited to comment. If you liked the podcast, please take a moment to review and/or rate it! ¡VAMOS!
Further resources for The Joy of Padel:
The Joy of Padel podcast is brought to you in association with Padel1969, who are proud to create one of the best padel product and service offerings in the world. Padel1969 believes in passion, joy, and integrity. We respect the DNA and roots of Padel – from Acapulco since 1969. To check all their full offer in padel courts, equipment and savoir faire, please go visit the Padel1969 site.
Meanwhile, you can find Minter's other Evergreen podcasts, entitled The Minter Dialogue Show (in English and French) in this podcast tab, on Megaphone or via Apple Podcasts.
About the host: Minter Dial
Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, author & consultant on Leadership, Branding and Transformation. His involvement in sports has been a lifetime passion. Besides playing 18 years of rugby, captaining athletics teams, coaching tennis and playing squash for his university, he’s been a lifelong player of padel tennis, starting at the age of 10, from the time of its very first public courts at the Marbella Club in 1974.
Then, after a successful international career at L’Oréal, Minter Dial returned to his entrepreneurial roots and has spent the last twelve years helping senior management teams and Boards to adapt to the new exigencies of the digitally enhanced marketplace. He has worked with world-class organisations to help activate their brand strategies, and figure out how best to integrate new technologies, digital tools, devices and platforms. Above all, Minter works to catalyse a change in mindset and dial up transformation. Minter received his BA in Trilingual Literature from Yale University (1987) and gained his MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1993). He’s author of four award-winning books, including Heartificial Empathy 2nd edition (2023), You Lead (Kogan Page 2021), co-author of Futureproof (Pearson 2017); and author of The Last Ring Home (Myndset Press 2016), a book and documentary film, both of which have won awards and critical acclaim.
It’s easy to inquire about booking Minter Dial here.
Full transcript of interview via Flowsend.ai
This transcription comes courtesy of Flowsend.ai, an AI service for podcasters.
Minter Dial: So, Marta, thanks for coming on my show. What does it mean for you to play padel at Roland Garros?
Marta Ortega: Hello. How are you? It’s a pleasure to be here with you. I think for Roland Garros, the first word that it comes to my mind is “incredible,” because I think that literally, really actually, it’s an incredible feeling. I’ve watched lots and lots of times, Nadal, Federer, every single tennis player. So, it’s amazing to think about that we are walking in the same corridors, we are going up the same stairs before they go on to the going to the court, the same lockers, I don’t know. Maybe my locker was for Garbiñe Muguruza, you know. So, it’s amazing and incredible.
Minter Dial: Beautiful. The conditions you’re used to playing in Spain, in probably warmer conditions. How do the conditions here affect you being outdoor? Not so hot. Some rain.
Marta Ortega: I think that here the problem is that you should be really prepared mentally because the tournament was supposed to be outdoor. At the beginning, it was indoor. Maybe at the morning, you think you are going to play outdoor, then you again play indoor, maybe you train indoor and then you play outdoor. So, you must be really focused, and you have to be really well prepared mentally. I’m talking with the psycho, with our psychologist, with the team. Every single day just to exchange opinion. Try to always relax, always see the positive point. And then also it’s as you said, one day is rainy, another day is windy, another day is sunny. So, you have to be prepared for everything. But the good point is that it’s for everyone. So, as soon as you get used to it, then I think you will be better prepared for the rest of the match. Of the week or everything. So, I think that you just have to think about the positive part. If maybe the temperature is going to be higher, you are going to be you are going to faster. If it’s windy, if you play better with the lobs, maybe you will probably get more than the other one. I don’t know. We always try to look for the solution and try to not focus on the problem.
Minter Dial: Right. I love that attitude. When you have the courts like Vallodolid that were very fast. And Rotterdam was slower.
Marta Ortega: It’s so curious because it was the same ball.
Minter Dial: Same ball, yeah. But so different.
Marta Ortega: Yeah.
Minter Dial: Which do you think is better for padel as an industry or for you as professionals?
Marta Ortega: As an industry. I think it’s a medium part. I think we need a fast padel and indoor because we play with more precision. The game I think you and the viewers enjoy more when they watch a match indoor with a fast game. But I think it should be medium, you know, not so slow as Rotterdam, not so fast as Valladolid. But it’s really difficult because you have to pay attention to the altura, the height.
Minter Dial: Oh, the altitude.
Marta Ortega: It’s not the same the altitude. It’s not the same play in Madrid that playing in Barcelona.
Minter Dial: Of course.
Marta Ortega: It’s not the same if it’s in the city or in the city centre. So, it’s really difficult. I think that the good part of our sport is that we don’t have different carpets, whatever. We don’t have a different carpet. So, we have different conditions. Maybe we have to try to enjoy these kind of situations. We have to get used to these conditions.
Minter Dial: We’ve moved from World Padel Tour to FIP, the whole harmonization. How has that been for you?
Marta Ortega: Always when someone gives me the opportunity to talk about World Padel Tour, I try to be grateful with them, because I think that if we are where we are now, it’s obviously because of the players, but it’s also because of the work and the time that everyone from World Padel Tour has spent with us. So, I think that they we have to be grateful for them. Obviously, there were too many things to improve as there are some things now that we have to improve. But I think that Premier Padel has come with a lot of energy, with new people, new minds, that every single change I think is good in life because they give you like a push. They are looking for really, really, really historic venues. Look at Roland Garros, look at Foro Italico [Rome].
Minter Dial: When’s Wimbledon?
Marta Ortega: You know, I think they are working a lot to spread the sport to be worldwide, and I appreciate that. And also, they listen to us a lot. They try to listen a lot to the players. They try to look for solutions as soon as they can. So, I think we have to be a little bit patient nowadays. We have too many tournaments, maybe there are too many; but I think that’s a part of the growth of the sport that we have to live. So, we have to invest a little bit and maybe we will have a proper season, as the tennis season
Minter Dial: And hopefully earn as much?
Marta Ortega: Yeah, probably. Well, we have to fight for that.
Minter Dial: That’s for sure. I’m with you. Let’s discuss the rules. With Premier, we lost the Golden Point. Of course, since 1994, there are lots of different changes that have been made. I’ve been following the sport for a long time. So, do you think that if there were one rule you could change, what rule would that be?
Marta Ortega: I would like the advantage to stay. I don’t like the Golden Point. It was a democratic decision. And my vote was for advantage and not Golden Point. So, maybe that and maybe trying to improve or maybe to try to look for a solution when there are some tournaments, such as Valladolid, maybe the boys should have like a little bit higher fence on the sides. I don’t know. It’s like a fence that you can put up…
Minter Dial: Maybe five meters? That kind of thing, right?
Marta Ortega: But maybe that’s one solution that is really easy to do. But, as I told you before, I think that the good part of our sport is to try to enjoy every environment, every condition.
Minter Dial: That’s part of the gig.
Marta Ortega: Yeah, That’s it. That’s it. That’s the sentence. That’s part of the game.
Minter Dial: Two other things. One is choice of partners in the amateur world. This is for people who are the regulars. How do you choose your partner? What do you look for? What are you zeroing in on?
Marta Ortega: I think most of the people think that it’s about ranking nowadays. With my age, I think I’m young, but I spent most of the most of my life here in the professional tour. And I think that my priority nowadays is to look for a person that trusts me. That trusts me inside the court, that believes in the project, that believes in the team. So, I try to look for people in the team, the coach, the physical part, the mental part, that invests in us, that are really close to us, that they take care of us whether we win, or we lose. And what I look for in a partner is that they trust me. Because when I choose somebody, it’s because I trust her. So, I need to feel the same from my partner. So, I think that, nowadays, it’s my priority, because I think that’s what makes the difference.
Minter Dial: Last question, communication. I talk a lot about the role of communication. The Spanish, the Hispanic world, they speak a lot. You are an amazing talker on the court. How important do you think communication is on a court? Have you ever come across somebody who can play well that doesn’t communicate? How do you evaluate the importance of communication on the court, as well as off the court?
Marta Ortega: Do you mean communication about where the opponents are? For example, or communication inside the team?
Minter Dial: Everything. Because I think it’s all related.
Marta Ortega: For example, with Sofia, we work really well that part because we know each other, we listen to each other, and also we ask each other lots of things. Are you good? What do you feel? Are you seeing anything that we should change? This kind of thing. So, I think that’s why we have really good communication. If she feels anything, she rapidly tells me and I do the same. For example, today [in the round of 16], I saw her face and I knew that something was happening. Something was going on. Something was wrong. So, I asked her and very quickly she told me what was going on. It happened twice during the match. And that’s why, for example, at thirty-all, we were able to win and get to 30-40 [on their serve], maybe to break, or at 40-30 when we are serving… I think that communication is so important nowadays …the mental part. The communication. To know when to slow down the match, to leverage the twenty seconds between points. Maybe to prepare the upcoming point, maybe to just calm down a little bit. So, that part is really important. And also, during the point, we talk to each other where the opponents are, and try to follow a great tactical plan; and be prepared to change it. Because now you can start a game with a tactical plan but maintaining this is really difficult.
Minter Dial: You have to learn how to adapt. To weather changes, etc. And the communication off the court? This is my last question.
Marta Ortega: The communication off the court versus on the court with Sofia is so easy because we get along really well. So, the communication is really good. We are laughing all the time. I think we know very well how to separate when we are in the competition versus moments when we aren’t competing. That’s so important. And that gives us life because we are traveling and spending most of the weeks of the year together. Traveling and competing. So, it’s really good to have a team that brings that banter during the season. So, for the communication outside the court, we are joking all the time. We are laughing all the time and that keeps us oxygen.
Minter Dial: We can see regularly you smile on the court. Keeping pleasure is important.
Marta Ortega: Yeah, we are enjoying a lot because we have our inside jokes. Nuestras mañeras. Our ways. So, we have lots of things that just Sofia and me know. Or Sofia, me, Carlos and Seba know. And that’s special.
Minter Dial: That’s beautiful. Thank you, Marta.
