"Maria Sharapova's father Yuri took 10,000 cash, partied for a week, left me with her" - Russian's agent Max Eisenbud on her Wimbledon 2004 triumph

Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova's father Yuri hugs her (R)

Maria Sharapova's father Yuri partied for a week after she won Wimbledon in 2004, as per Max Eisenbud, who worked with Sharapova for more than two decades.

Sharapova downed Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 in the final at SW19 in 2004 to clinch her first Grand Slam trophy. Williams was notably the two-time defending champion, while her opponent was only 17 years old at the time.

Sharapova's father Yuri played a key role as her coach at the start of her career. He sacrificed a settled life in Sochi, Russia, and moved to Miami, Florida so that his daughter could train at Nick Bolletieri's tennis academy. Sharapova was just nine years old when she moved to the USA.

Yuri's efforts paid off as his daughter triumphed at Centre Court in 2004, and he didn't hold himself back with his celebrations. Sharapova's agent Eisenbud recently revealed that Yuri shot off to the English mountains right after her victory, with $10,000 in hand.

"When she [Maria Sharapova] won [Wimbledon 2004], he [Yuri] wanted, he made us go to the bank, you know the bank on the side of Wimbledon to get $10,000. You know, you can’t travel with more than $10,000. He took 10,000 cash and went with his buddies in the mountains and partied for like a week and left me with her," Eisenbud told Andy Roddick in the latest episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.

Eisenbud further admitted to knowing nothing about where Yuri went.

"He left the next morning, ten in cash and went to party with all his friends. I never know where he went, he just said: 'I'm going, meeting all my buddies, that I grew up with in the mountains and we're going to party.' I didn’t ask any questions, all my job was I needed to get him 10,000 in cash and he was going to party with his friends," he added.

Maria Sharapova defeated four seeded opponents at Wimbledon 2004

Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova

During her triumphant run at Wimbledon in 2004, Maria Sharapova downed four seeded opponents, including the top seed Serena Williams in the summit clash.

The 13th seed started her campaign with a 6-2, 6-1 win over qualifier Yuliya Bygelzimer in the first round. She defeated wildcard Anne Keothavong 6-4, 6-0 in the second round and overcame Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-1 in the third.

Sharapova met Amy Fraizer, who was the 31st seed, in the fourth round and registered another straight-set victory to qualify for the quarterfinals. There, 11th seed Ai Sugiyama pushed Sharapova on the back foot by clinching the opening set. The Russian, however, fought back to win the match 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.

In the semifinals, she produced another comeback effort to beat fifth seed Lindsay Davenport 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1, before beating Williams in the final.

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Edited by Anantaajith Raghuraman
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