Manny Fortune is the owner of Fortune Tennis, a Los Angeles-based company that offers personalized tennis lessons and fast-paced tennis clinics to people of all ages and skill levels.
Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Manny began playing tennis at age seven, and when he was nine years old, he entered his first tournament.
Until he turned eighteen, Manny toured around the country playing various tournaments, a near decade long run that earned him an opportunity to play at the collegiate level.
As a freshman, Manny attended Auburn University at Montgomery, an NAIA school located in the state of Alabama.
“A lot of the guys there were basically Division-I players because they had already played semi-pro and were extremely talented,” Manny says of the tennis program at Montgomery.
This alone helped sharpen Manny’s skillset, which led to him transferring to Grambling State University, where he played Division-I tennis for the Tigers.
Manny enjoyed modest success while enrolled at Grambling State, but the Houston native admits that even after graduation, there was more he felt he could contribute to the game of tennis.
Therefore, despite not turning pro so he could pursue an acting career in Los Angeles (where he still lives), Manny continued to develop his tennis game.
“I just kept working on my game, and that’s something that I preach to my clients now because you’re never going to arrive as a tennis player,” says Manny, who today is a coach who has a long list of clients that vary in age and skill level.
“There are always things you can get better at that will make you a more complete player and person as you go through the process of becoming a good tennis player.”
Manny says that even for a global tennis icon like Novak Djokovic, who has won 24 major titles, getting better as a player never stops.
“People see what he is now, but it wasn’t until he made some changes to his diet, the way he stretched, and his serve, that he then had a breakout year back in 2011,” Manny explains.
“And even beyond that, the reason he has been able to maintain his dominance on the global stage is because he has been so consistent and diligent in his preparation and approach, both on and off the court.”
In that sense, what often gets forgotten among casual fans is that tennis is as much a test of mental fortitude as it is physical prowess, and while the vast majority of tennis enthusiasts will never grace the court at Wimbledon or Roland-Garros, there is still much they can learn from the game’s elite.
“Quentin, regular people like you and I can attain a championship mindset by having more consistency in our life and developing the right habits,” Manny insists.
That alone is why Manny focuses just as much on helping his clients cultivate a tenacious mindset as he does a powerful backhand.
“Part of what I do is teach people new mental skills so that when they encounter adversity during a match, they will have strategies they can apply to overcome those roadblocks and persevere,” he says.
“In a lot of ways, tennis imitates life, and that’s why I like people to also apply certain qualities from tennis to their daily lives; whether that’s time management, discipline, or problem solving skills. These types of things can help people be a better person. When people come to my training sessions or clinics, they don’t have a blueprint for how to overcome certain types of adversity, so by exposing them to some novel concepts, later on, when their serve is not on point or their backhand is not landing well, then they can overcome that discouragement and forge ahead.”
To reiterate, at Fortune Tennis, people of all ages and skill sets are welcome, but Manny takes a different approach with each demographic of client.
“With younger kids, I want them to have fun because that love of tennis is what’s going to keep them going, but I also instill discipline to help them progress as a tennis player,” he says.
“Much of the work that I do with kids is on technique because tennis is one of those games where you can’t enjoy it fully unless you have your technique down.”
And to master technique, one must fully commit to the craft, otherwise results will likely never come.
“The reason a lot of people who play tennis are intermediate or advanced players is because they have spent countless hours improving and getting to that stage,” Manny notes.
“They can also comprehend strategy and gain the experience of being in a difficult mental state during a match, and then having to dig themselves out.”
But for those individuals, their success can once again be directly attributed to the hours they logged getting better at their craft, which leads to a consistency being formed that is crucial for any aspiring tennis player to have.
“Consistency doesn’t just show up. It is developed and refined over time,” Manny emphasizes.
“Things like hitting the ball with pace and not feeling overwhelmed by pressure in tense situations, that comes from consistency and having the right mindset. I see a lot of people who come in who don’t have the right approach toward things like that, so I aim to help them with it.”
For context, Manny routinely witnesses newer players make mistakes because they haven’t properly established a foundation to work off of, which can later be linked to mental errors on the court.
“People default to their instincts and natural inclinations when they’re playing tennis,” Manny says.
“In my training program, I’m not teaching people to avoid thinking when they’re playing tennis. Rather, I want their default settings to be so good that when they are in the flow of the game and playing naturally, they’re using ingrained skills that will allow them to play well and win matches.”
Beyond his experience as a player at the NCAA Division-I level, Manny takes a meticulous approach to each of his clients, starting with filming their sessions so clients can get a look at their positioning and body movements.
“I like to have people record themselves. That way they can visually see what they are doing and I can use it to help them better understand the right and wrong things they might be doing. Seeing themselves play also helps them pick up on strengths and weaknesses that they may see in their game,” Manny says.
“It’s one thing for me to tell them something, but sometimes it takes a person seeing a technique play out when I’m not around for it to really resonate.”
For each client, Manny also curates a uniquely tailored plan that is suited to an individual’s style and skill level, the aim being to transform and revolutionize each player’s overall competency.
“In three months, I want them to be a completely different player,” Manny declares.
“I want them to advance and progress, so what I’ll do is set up drills that focus on their areas of need, and then match them up with opponents who will challenge them and lay out a plan to get them to the next level.”
To be clear, not every tennis coach will devise this sophisticated of a roadmap for their clients.
“I know coaches who will do the hour-long session, and that’s it,” Manny says.
“Of course, I want to do our session, but then I want to go a step further and detail how we are going to progress, because that’s ultimately why people are coming to me. They’re not paying me to tell them what they want to hear. They’re paying me because they want to be a better tennis player tomorrow than they are today.”
To cater to a wide array of clients, in addition to his in-person training, Manny also offers clients an online program where he works with you on either a monthly basis or a three-month basis.
“This is beneficial for people who want to record their sessions and then have me analyze that tape and give feedback,” Manny says of the virtual package where clients can also later schedule a meeting to go over the progress they have made on their own time.
“I try my best to make the customer’s life easier, and for some people who have a tighter schedule, the virtual option is a good way for them to get the work in without having to drive across town in L.A. traffic every week.”
As Manny continues to come into his own as a professional tennis instructor, he’s hoping to leverage his growing presence in the Los Angeles tennis scene and host more events for the general public, a goal that if brought to fruition, will build a strong community around the game he loves more than anything else.
“Tennis has enriched my life in so many ways. For example, the same process that people go through to create a habit for their tennis game can also be used in so many other ways,” says the man who this year will be creating more content online to expand on this exact principle.
“This sport forces you to be disciplined in all aspects, so if you want to become healthier or read books more consistently, tennis teaches you how to do that, and then it’s just you applying those same concepts to whatever it is that you want to do.” QS
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