Caty McNally has defeated Iga Swiatek before. She has had her combats with some of the best in tennis right now when she was a junior. But as a pro, the youngster from Ohio has been trying to make her mark. As she prepares to take on the 2025 Australian Open winner Madison Keys in the Canadian Open, the 23-year-old will count on the insights provided by her coach, Lynn Nabors McNally.

You see it, don’t you? While you read it. Both Caty McNally and her coach have the same surname. Well, it’s not a funny coincidence. They are indeed related. The 2022 US Open finalist has had her mother as her coach her entire life. Something so rare to see in the sport, the mother-daughter duo has been growing their presence in the game, which marks an amazing story for women’s tennis. So, let’s get to know about their dynamic and how they make it work. But first, let’s get to know the person who is coaching the Canadian Open participant.

Who is Lynn Nabors McNally, Caty McNally’s coach cum mom?

As a mother, Lynn Nabors McNally has seen her daughter grow up to become a prominent talent on the WTA circuit. But Lynn played her part in her daughter’s journey, too. She is a top-tier coach in Cincinnati who has been training both her children. Nabors McNally played at Northwestern and had a professional career that spanned the 1980s and 1990s. She was among the top 250 doubles players at one point. And she happens to be a member of the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame.

It all started when Caty McNally was just 2 years old. “I would say, ‘Just make contact, Sweetie.’ And all of a sudden, she did,” Nabors McNally shared with Tennis.com in 2023. “And then we had rallies. And then we played points.” When she was older, Caty would spend long hours at The Club at Harper’s Point in Cincinnati. This is where her mom gave tennis lessons every day of the week for years.

“I liked being around the sport,” the 2021 US Open Doubles Finalist said. “I liked being around her.” The mother-daughter duo has been a pair all their lives. Even at home, they would join forces for the Sunday night family matchups to take on the other half of the father-son duo. Who won? Well, that’s not important. It’s about knitting together a journey that lets them pursue their dreams. Incidentally, Caty McNally’s mother doesn’t travel all the time with her daughter on tours.

But Lynn Nabors McNally has been the hands-on coach to guide her daughter whenever she has needed it. It’s tricky being a mother and a coach. There is never a clear line demarcated that tells you need to be a mother and you have to be a coach. But the McNally pair has learnt how to work it out.

The work-life balancing act and a precious relationship that’s rare in tennis

After all these years, they know it’s a tricky dynamic. “It’s a very fine line, and you just have to find it,” Caty McNally had said to Tennis.com. “As I’ve matured, I’ve just realized to not take certain things so seriously, and (think), ‘Maybe she meant it one way but it came across in another.'” The 2024 Cluj-Napoca doubles winner is also mature enough to know this: “It’s just like probably any 21-year-old who at times doesn’t always want to be around their mom.”

There is one line, though, they don’t cross: no pro tennis talk at home. Rest, it’s about supporting Caty McNally’s career, as Lynn Nabors McNally explained. “We’ve had a lot of conversations about Caty being the CEO of her business. But you can’t have a bigger person in your support system than family.” McNally wants to win Grand Slams; she wants to be No. 1 in the world.

All her mother hopes is that it lasts long. “I hope she can hold on for a long time.” The duo is special in so many ways. Lynn not only advocates for more women coaches in tennis in her own way. But her presence as a guide and counsel for her daughter raises other areas to address. Like how female tennis players have to deal with setbacks all by themselves because the coaches aren’t allowed in the locker rooms.

Talking about the issue, McNally said, “On the men’s side, the coaches are always in the locker room with the players, just hanging out. On the women’s side, you don’t see that; it’s only the players in the locker room.” And she continued, “The coaches are right there to help take things off their shoulders. On the women’s side, after a loss, a lot of the girls are like, ‘I don’t want to talk to anyone. I want to be by myself.’ You don’t see any female coaches hanging around in the locker room.”

Maybe Caty McNally and Lynn Nabors McNally have a part to play in the game that’s bigger than their careers. Maybe their legacy will be about changing the game for the better.