Maria Sharapova is only one of the greatest WTA players of all time. Her resilience, combined with her powerful forehand, set her at the top of the game in the international tennis circuit. Rick Macci, who is also behind the successes of players like Jennifer Capriati, Andy Roddick, and the Williams sisters, coached the Russian star. Sharapova’s father brought her to the Rick Macci Tennis Academy when she was just six years old. He hoped to get her the best training possible. However, as described in her book “Unstoppable: My Life So Far,” they faced some initial challenges at the academy.

The obstacles in Sharapova’s path at Macci’s academy were a hostile reception and questions about their background. The 5-time Grand Slam champion elaborates on how her father turned sour after this initial episode. Proud as they come, fathers are not exactly the best people to overlook someone humiliating their children. Sharapova’s father is no different.

Maria Sharapova landed with a proud father and a cold welcome

Looking back at her long illustrious career in the sport, Sharapova has received all the love and admiration from her fans worldwide. However, she hit a rocky start when she first went to the Rick Macci Tennis Academy as a six-year-old. Recounting the events from that Sunday morning, Sharapova writes in her book ‘Unstoppable’, “My father still talks about how disappointed he was in the Rick Macci Tennis Academy, and how we were greeted...”

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The tennis diva does acknowledge that the experience must have been equally memorable and “weird” for the people at the reception desk. “…this man who speaks only Russian walks in with his six-year-old daughter, who carries an oversized racket. He is followed by a couple from Poland, offering to translate.”

While Yuri, Sharapova’s father, tried to communicate their purpose to the reception, they were under the watchful eyes of Macci’s wife. “My father asked to see Rick. He was told that Mr. Macci was away, not available. The person he was speaking to, eyeing us suspiciously from behind the desk, turned out to be Macci’s wife. She sized us up, then turned away.”

However, Yuri, whose attitude later became a problem for the Russian tennis icon’s coach in the Olympics, was very persistent even then. He tried to get the authorities at the academy to watch Sharapova play once on the court. They were in a financial crunch and didn’t have the money to register at the academy. It was a $1000 fee, and Yuri only had $700 in his pocket. Maria recounts, “…that was all the money in the world to us—in a roll in my father’s pocket.”

As luck would have it, an instructor at the academy offered to hit with her. “Someone happened to be walking by, an instructor. She defused the whole thing, saying, “Let me go and hit with her a bit—let’s just see.””

While her father handled matters at the reception, Sharapova gave her best on court. The instructor then spoke with the woman at the desk and their attitude immediately changed. They started offering Sharapova and her father a place to stay for a few nights.

Nobody bought Sharapova’s story

However, there were still questions about their story, like her mother’s whereabouts and her academic standpoint. Nobody believed that a man traveled all the way from Russia just for his daughter to have the best tennis coach.

This made her father uneasy and led to them declining the offer and leaving the academy. When the offer of two nights was put forth until Macci came back, Sharapova’s father declined flat out. “Nyet. We’re out of here”, he said.

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The excerpt provides a glimpse into the sacrifices and challenges faced by many young athletes and their families in their pursuit of greatness. Despite these obstacles, Sharapova continued to work with Macci and developed into one of the greatest tennis players in the Open Era.