Love at first sight for Miiller and beach tennis
World No. 1 Rafaella Miiller is the perfect example of someone who has managed to turn a passion into a profession.
The 27-year-old Brazilian only discovered the sport by chance, but the appeal was immediate, and she has had a meteoric rise to the top of the women’s game.
“It was love at first sight,” explained Miiller in an exclusive interview on the ITF’s Instagram page earlier this week. “I was walking on the beach with my cousin. Her friend played beach tennis, so I played for fun and loved it so much that I started playing every day. We say that the beach tennis bug bit me.”
Having grown up being exposed to the outdoors, Miiller was an accomplished tennis and padel player before she turned her attention to the beach version of the sport.
Reflecting on the first time she travelled abroad to a beach tennis tournament, Miiller said: “I started playing in 2015 and in 2016 I represented Brazil [at the World Team Championships] in Russia. It was my first tournament outside Brazil.”
Later that year Miiller and countrywoman Joana Cortez made history by becoming the first non-Italian pairing to win the World Championships. “I didn’t have any ranking points and didn’t know anyone. It was incredible,” she added.
Miiller has gone on to secure her status as the best player in the women’s game and she enjoyed a sensational season in 2019, winning the World Championships in Terracina with Germany’s Maraike Biglmaier and helping Brazil to win a second straight World Team Championships triumph.
“To play for your country is incredible,” said Miiller. “You don’t play for yourself. To win the Team Championships is a dream. The best nations on earth were competing. We won in 2018 against Italy and last year against Russia.
“Last year’s rivals were Poland, Spain, Germany and Russia – every match was hard but the pressure in the final is extra.”
And despite reaching the top of her game, it would seem Miiller’s feet are firmly on the ground.
She said: “To get the ranking is the result of my hard work. It is a consequence of my work, a dream. It was my goal, but there are more important things in life. I prefer to be an example as a person and as an athlete.”
Miiller, who is sponsored by SANDEVER, the Global Development Partner for Beach Tennis, added: “The sponsors are helping me personally but they are also contributing to the growth of this sport.”