Posted on 07/04/2004 11:10:17 PM PDT by beyond the sea
WIMBLEDON, England, July 4 - Maria Sharapova's coach, Robert Lansdorp, has been around tennis parents long enough to have some concerns that her remarkable victory at Wimbledon could start a trend.
"Now everybody will go to Siberia and have their child born there," Lansdorp said, laughing. "You know how crazy some tennis people are."
But according to Lansdorp, the secret to the success of Sharapova, his longtime pupil, does not lie in her Siberian birthplace or the hardships she experienced after her father, Yuri, decided to take her from Russia to the United States when she was 7.
"I'm not a psychiatrist, but I don't necessarily think having a very tough life is going to make you a champion," he said in a telephone interview from California after Sharapova's 6-1, 6-4 victory over Serena Williams in the final on Saturday. "I think it's just an inborn kind of quality, the sort of mental toughness that Maria has. I think she is determined to make something out of herself in everything she does."
Lansdorp, who has worked regularly with Sharapova since she was 11, has helped shape the games of several Grand Slam champions, including Pete Sampras, Tracy Austin and Lindsay Davenport. Austin was a year younger than the 17-year-old Sharapova when she won her first major title at the 1979 United States Open.
"Tracy was almost the same," Lansdorp said. "They want it so bad. They fight so hard. They are so basically relaxed in the confidence to be able to do it.
"To be honest, this came a little bit earlier than I expected. Maria's development was good, but she was struggling with some knee problems two years ago. Her serve didn't have the strength. She was growing quickly. I always said that she was going to be great, but it probably wasn't going to be until she was 18½ or 19. But she just pulled herself together."
It helped that Sharapova faced two big, relatively flat hitters in the last two rounds in Davenport and Williams, instead of more subtle opponents, like the absent No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, who are more prone to changing pace and tactics and to hitting crisply chipped backhands that stay low on the grass.
But even if Sharapova had been facing the pace she relished, she required the faith in her instincts to hit the winners and second serves on the biggest stage imaginable. She had been forthright about her intention to win Wimbledon. It simply came a year or two or three before she expected it.
"I mean I thought Wimbledon was just my dream to win, and now, of course, my goal is to be No. 1 in the world," she said.
For now, she will have to settle for being No. 8 and for being in considerable demand. Although she still had a cold, she was expected to arrive Monday in New York, where she will make television appearances. There will also be increased demand from sponsors and tournament promoters, even though Sharapova's schedule is still restricted by WTA rules because she has not yet turned 18.
"To tell you the truth, I know that things will start coming up, many more people will want to start getting involved, but I just want to keep my head cool," she said, adding that she intended to let her management company, I.M.G.; her father; and other advisers take care of those issues. "Because I'm not into it really, that business. I just go out, and I just play tennis."
For now, the plan is for her to play later this month in the California tournaments in Carson and San Diego, then take time off to prepare for the United States Open with Lansdorp. Because selections were made before she won Wimbledon, Sharapova has not been named to the Russian Olympic team, which will compete in late August before the United States Open. But who knows what could happen between now and Aug. 13, when the Olympics begin?
What is clear is that tennis has a new star. "It's great for women's tennis," Martina Navratilova said. "It's the best thing that could have happened to us really. And obviously it's great for her."
According to Yuri Sharapov, Navratilova spotted his daughter at a tennis clinic in Moscow when she was 5 and suggested taking her to Florida and the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, owned by I.M.G.
"What a talent," Navratilova said. "She's just been very focused on what she wanted to do, extremely committed to her cause, and she loves to play. That's the best part. She wants to be out there. She doesn't want to be anywhere else. You see that. Yes, she's got her father that's behind her. But she's there because she wants to be there, not because he wants to be there."
Tennis parents do have a disturbing history of living vicariously through their children's careers, and Sharapov has clearly sacrificed a great deal to advance his daughter's tennis, leaving his culture and his comfort zone (and, for two years, his wife, Yelena) to take Maria to Florida. Asked last year if he ever believed that the path that began in western Siberia would end up with Maria's playing in a Grand Slam tournament, he said: "It's what God wants and everything is up to him. We just followed his way, and that's it."
Lansdorp and Bollettieri are both complimentary of Yuri.
"I don't know some of these other people; I don't know Mary Pierce or Jelena Dokic," Lansdorp said, referring to players whose fathers acted as coaches and were barred from the Tour for belligerent behavior. "But I tell you one thing: Nobody pulls strings on Maria. Not I.M.G. Not anybody. She is going to do what Maria is going to do."
Lansdorp is convinced that what she is going to do is get better.
"She's not someone who's going to say, 'Robert, sorry, I don't want to hit 50 backhands down the line because I just won Wimbledon,' " he said. "That's not Maria. She wants more."
ping
A real tennis star, unlike the other Russian chick.
There are some really great and beautiful pictures of this brilliant girl on this FR thread:
Sharapova Dominates Serena in [Wimbledon] Final
read later
Thanks!
I could get to that one, any idea of the date?
Sharapova Dominates Serena in [Wimbledon] Final
By the way, I see from your Home Page, that you are a recent addition , so Welcome, glad you came.
Is she still in the dressing room?
As long as she has people around her (and herself) who know to keep the photos this tastefully done, it will be great. You have good taste.
By the way, I heard that she will be making the mandatory late night appearances this week, so keep an eye out. If you find out anything about an appearance beforehand, please let me know! Take it easy.
(Which Beach?)
Move over, Tiger.
No, but I'm sure it will be listed on her website eventually.
Because of her age, she is limited to a small number of tournaments a year. But, The U.S. Open should be interesting later this summer!
This is a great story. If you hear her speak, she speaks perfect American english. She basically said that she ISNT going to be some piece of @$$ like that other supposed tennis "star".
I liked how she said she'd never be a "pin-up" like Anna K.
This girl is a gem, and the sports world has just become very fortunate. We have a 17 year old darling lady.
(By the way, Serena Williams, AS ALWAYS, was a perfect lady in defeat.)
JP Morgan Chase Open Tennis Tournament
Dates: July 19-25, 2004
Venue: Home Depot Tennis Center
City: Carson, California
http://www.jpmorganchaseopen.com
Acura Classic July 24-August 1, 2004
San Diego (Carlsbad), California
http://www.acuraclassic.com/
Thank you!
I am near, Sunset Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach SW of Long Beach. Not really right on the beach, but it is an easy drive to get there. Coming from the interior, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, I think I can say I am at the Beach.....
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