
Some athletes require the tiniest of sparks to move the needle from just enjoying the sport as a hobby to taking it seriously to the point where they aspire towards the top.
For Australia's Ellen Perez, that particular needle shifted later than her competitors in her early teens, but since discovering a burning passion for tennis, she hasn't looked back.
Perez, 29, has prioritised doubles over singles for the past two years in a bid to maximise her potential — helping her reach a career-high doubles ranking of No.7 and appear in this year's WTA Finals alongside America's Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
A Christmas present received in her early years would begin the ultimate tennis journey, but one road trip almost halted the journey completely.
"I was introduced to tennis when I received a totem tennis set for Christmas when I was about three years old," Perez told The First Serve. "I remember I used to go out there and just swing the bat, having really good hand-eye coordination, which is what my parents always said to me.
"My dad played tennis at a very social level, and from there he helped me get into tennis from the age of seven when I went for my first lesson.
"It was with a squad for about once a week and then I would hit with my dad here and there, so the love for tennis grew there.
"The first junior tournament I played was in Charmhaven, and I remember we finished the tournament, it was hot, we started driving home, and the car broke down. We were stuck on the side of the road waiting for someone to pick us up for about four hours, so that's when I said I was never playing tennis again. I just thought this is how it's going to be. But since then it's slowly progressed."
Tennis is often one of those sports where you hear stories of parents hitting balls with their son or daughter the minute they can walk — in the hope that the hard work pays off in the long haul.
Although those countless hits with her father led her down the tennis path, Perez loved the sport, but not enough to work twice as hard as her competitors.
"I must say I was one of those kids where, especially nowadays, I under-did it," she confessed. "I would only train for one hour a day after school five times a week. I never did anything physical outside of that. I kept that routine up until 14.
"I remember being at a tournament when I ran into Nicole Pratt when she was involved with the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) and Tennis Australia. She saw me and said, 'Wow, you have a lot of potential', which was the moment I started to open my eyes and realise the options I could pursue.
"I spent three years at the University of Georgia even though it was a four-year degree, because I felt I was ready enough to go pro. That's when I moved back to Melbourne with family, but at the same time, I was travelling full-time."
In their third season as a pairing, Perez and Melichar-Martinez won three titles together, accumulating enough points to qualify for their second straight WTA Finals.
Unable to replicate their magical 2023 run to the final, the duo were defeated at the semi-final stage.
Despite experiencing bitter disappointment, the Sydneysider looks back on her year with many positives to take away.
"Any time you qualify for the year-end Finals, I think it's a great year. We played a lot of tournaments [in 2024]," Perez admitted.
"The thing we were most proud of this year was that we won a few titles, whereas last year we lost a whole bunch of finals.
"We could never get over that hump of actually winning [a title], but this year we won three together, although we never won the major tournaments such as Grand Slams and Masters events.
"But we won two 500 events, and that was a real stepping stone because we hadn't won any 500s in the past."
However, after hours of deliberating and consideration, it was time for a new chapter, and Belgium's Elise Mertens was selected as the perfect fit to elevate Perez's game.
Mertens, a former doubles No.1 and singles No.12, has four Grand Slam doubles titles to her name — a winning mentality that attracted Perez to join forces with the 29-year-old.
"It's very exciting. Elise is very established, having been world No.1 in doubles, and I think that was one of the key things [in forming the partnership] because she's won Grand Slams and knows what it takes to win," she explained.
"I felt like Nicole and I gave it a good crack, but we weren't able to get to that next level. Maybe you can say if you hang with it then it's always there [to be achieved], but I felt like I'd be missing out on an opportunity if I didn't say yes to playing with Elise.
"Perhaps Elise has different insights, sometimes things click quicker with certain pairings, so I thought it would be a cool opportunity.
"It also means I return to the deuce court where I originally started playing before I switched sides to help Nicole which was her preferred side. I do think deuce, especially as a leftie, is more the traditional side that a left-hander would play."
Have you ever wondered how the process works when organising a doubles partnership for the new season?
Well, it can be hectic, but also a valuable chance to sit down and review all aspects.
"As the season starts to come to an end, a lot of girls are messaging each other and I definitely had a lot of girls reaching out around the October period," Perez said.
"I think that's where it's important to have a good team around you, having the ability to bounce ideas off someone else, but I think you also have to trust your gut as well when it comes to making those decisions."
Last month, Australia crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals at the hands of eventual runners-up, Slovakia.
With the tie settled at 0-2 after defeats suffered by Kimberly Birrell and Ajla Tomljanović, the door shut on Perez appearing in doubles action.
Putting aside the setback, Perez is focusing on the bigger picture involving a tight-knit group possessing a mixture of everything to create a strong culture.
The likes of Maya Joint, Olivia Gadecki, Taylah Preston, Talia Gibson and Emerson Jones represent the future of Australian women's tennis, with Perez and other experienced players sharing a responsibility to support them.
"I would say the Aussies are one of the closest groups on tour," Perez said. "I think it comes with the territory of being on the road for so long. We all come together to make each other feel like we're at home away from home.
"Especially the Billie Jean King Cup Finals when everyone is a little more tired being the end of the year, I think it's that moment where everyone needs to come together to get through which is important.
"The mix of youth and experience is great. There's a few of us who can welcome those new ones, but it's good to have fresh faces [and] new personalities, which presents a cool challenge to help make the younger players settle in."
Team captain Samantha Stosur embodies what it means to represent the green and gold — a player who achieved the ultimate prize by claiming a Grand Slam title at the 2011 US Open.
Having played doubles together at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Stosur, Perez's admiration for the former singles world No.4 and doubles world No.1 began back when she was practising with her father.
"Sam was someone who I always looked up to, and I had the opportunity to play at the Olympics with her, along with a few doubles tournaments," Perez said.
"She has so much wisdom both on and off the court, but if I ever had a question, even if it was something like, 'What would you do in this situation?', she had that expertise to say, 'This is what I would do', and I feel everyone respects her opinion and that's the nice part, you can relate to a lot of things."
Irrespective of the physical pain players endure at times — when tournaments of the highest pedigree are on the horizon such as the WTA Finals and Billie Jean King Cup Finals — sitting out isn't an option.
At the end of September, an unexpected injury almost derailed Perez's final few months of the calendar year.
"As I went to Asia, I injured my finger at the start of Beijing," she said.
"It was supposed to be a six-week recovery, and I was obviously chasing a lot of points to make the WTA Finals, so for the first three to four weeks, I was playing through with only four hand fingers on my racquet.
"I was able to grip the racquet better after that period up until the WTA Finals and from there it was pretty much 100 per cent."
As for the new year ahead, multiple goals are there to be ticked off by the end of 2025 for Perez.
"With Elise, it would be great to win a 1000 title and a Grand Slam. I don't want to say one or the other; I'd like to do both," she said.
"Another goal is to achieve top-five in the world, but that comes with those types of results if you're starting to win events like that, so the ranking will take care of itself.
"In terms of Australia, it would be nice to make the Billie Jean King Cup Finals again with a different format coming up in April with pools of three which will change things, but I think we have a great team.
"It's not just qualifying for the Finals, but also making the semis and the final. There's no reason why we can't have a good run when a country like Slovakia has shown that, given many people would call them the underdogs.
"It starts also with the United Cup where we have a cool opportunity. Any time I get to wear the green and gold I'm excited, so I'm hoping to start the season off well."
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