Their first heroes: A look at tennis’s most famous dads

2.) Yuri Sharapova:

Again, someone who needs no introduction. Born in distant, war-torn Soviet Union, Yuri Sharapova and his wife Elena moved the family to the coastal town of Sochi when their daughter Maria was two years old. When in Sochi, Yuri befriended Aleksandr Kafelnikov(father of future Grand Slam champion Yevgeny) who gave Maria her first racquet at the age of 4. A chance meeting with Martina Navratilova at her tennis academy two years later resulted in the legend suggesting Sharapova to move to the Nick Bolletieri Academy in Florida to receive better training.

Yuri Sharapova, limited severely by finance as well as the language barrier(neither he nor Maria could speak English) packed his bags and moved halfway across the world to Florida in order to help his daughter achieve her dreams. Arriving in Florida with savings of $700 and without his wife, who got a visa only two years later, Yuri took up menial jobs such as dishwashing in order to fund his daughter’s training. Maria finally caught the eye of IMG, who agreed to sponsor her in 1995, and the rest as they say, is history.

Sharapova has won all four Grand Slam titles since her triumph as a bubbly 17 year-old at Wimbledon in 2004. Known to be one of the most mentally tough players on tour, she definitely owes a lot of that to her tough upbringing, brought about by the sacrifices that both she and her father had to go through in order for her to reach her present position. Yuri Sharapova is truly one of tennis’s good guys, and his daughter Maria has not let him down, repaying every bit of faith he had in her.