Sybel Boss-Ayme's Yoga Students In The News

Bollettieri: Sharapova a potential No. 1

The Bradenton Herald--Posted on Sun, Jul. 11, 2004

BRIAN BLANCO-The Herald Maria Sharapova, 17-year-old Wimbledon champion, celebrates with family and friends at Portofino's Restaurant in Bradenton Thursday night.

MIKE HENRY

Herald Staff Writer

BRADENTON - During an inspirational talk to almost 100 tennis fans at the newly renovated Walton Racquet Center on Saturday, Nick Bollettieri drew laughter when he described humankind as "the only species that thinks about retirement."

The vigorous, passionate, outspoken 72-year-old founder of the west Bradenton tennis academy that bears his name shows no signs of slowing. He remarried in May and continues to find causes to champion, such as the fight against child obesity and opening the academy to summer campers who can't afford the going rate.

If Bollettieri's mindset ever changed, though, he'd probably postpone quitting until the saga of 17-year-old Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova plays itself out.

"I predict that Maria Sharapova will have those stars shining for a lot of years," Bollettieri told the gathering. "I believe she will make a tremendous impact on young people and remain humble and competitive.

"I'll help her do whatever I know. You can't ask for a better person. She's a brilliant thinker, she drives the ball with a little spin, she has improved her serve, and she can volley. There is no reason she can't play the total game.

"Put all of those things together and keep her healthy, and you have a potential No. 1 player of the world."

When Sharapova arrived at his academy in 1994 with her father, Yuri Sharapov, "she was so thin that if she turned sideways, you wouldn't see her," Bollettieri told his rapt audience.

Even at that early stage, Bollettieri could see signs Sharapova was a breed apart. As her confidence and desire increased, Bollettieri and his support staff provided the fundamentals that enabled her to hold her own against older, stronger opponents.

"Nick really groomed her strokes at a young age and made sure they were short and precise," said former tour player Greg Hill, who worked 15 years at the academy before joining the teaching staff at the Walton Racquet Center, which is located at G.T. Bray.

"To me, Nick is the best at that," Hill said. "He has such a good eye, it doesn't take him but a couple of strokes to really see what the problem is. He doesn't have to spend a full workout with the top pros. It's a few basic principles he sees, then he goes on to the next thing."

Bollettieri's forecast after Sharapova won the Girls 16s Division of the prestigious Eddie Herr International Junior Championships in December 2000 at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy proved frighteningly accurate.

"Barring any unforeseen injury," he told the Herald, "she won't just be a professional, she will be one of the best in the world."

By that time, Sharapova had begun training extensively with southern California-based coach Robert Lansdorp, noted for helping develop such Grand Slam champions as Pete Sampras, Tracy Austin, Lindsay Davenport and Anastasia Myskina.

During the telecast of the 1998 U.S. Open, won by Davenport, Yuri Sharapov heard Austin extol the virtues of Lansdorp. Soon after, Lansdorp was contacted by IMG Academies about working with Maria.

"She came out here that September, I told her what I thought, and that was basically it," Lansdorp, 65, said from his home in Rolling Hills, Calif. "She would come here two weeks at a time, go to Bradenton for two or three weeks, then come here for two weeks until she was about 14."

At that time, the decision was made by Team Sharapova to have Maria spend most of her time training on the West Coast with Lansdorp, who could provide the individual attention she needed during strenuous two-hour sessions.

Periodic visits back to Bradenton to visit her mother, Yelena, kept the teenager on the fast track to happiness and success.

"I'm just a guy on one court who works 1-on-1 all the time, does the hitting, feeds the balls," Lansdorp said. "I found this girl had a pretty good feel for the court, and making errors was not in her way of thinking, but she was not very good at staying focused and repetition.

"A big part of what I did was getting her to concentrate on one shot over and over, making it a process. We also worked on her driving the ball harder and more cross-court and her reverse forehand, where the follow-through comes through on the right side. If Maria didn't have that shot, she might not have won Wimbledon."

Lansdorp believes working in splendid isolation on the public court in Torrance, Calif., gave Sharapova an additional layer of toughness that proved decisive in tough Wimbledon victories against Amy Frazier, Ai Sugiyama, Davenport and, ultimately, Serena Williams.

"She had no fear," Lansdorp said of his early days with Sharapova. "When the chips were down, she was still banging the ball. She never choked or got tight.

"I know how to develop the strokes, and if a kid has that mentality at that early an age, they can go a long way."

Lansdorp said Sharapova is returning to southern California this week for three days of practice and a possible World Team Tennis match before appearing Friday on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Neither Bollettieri nor Lansdorp accompanied Sharapova to Wimbledon. Instead, her inner circle was comprised of her father, NBTA coach Mauricio Hadad and physical trainer Mark Wellington of IMG Academies' International Performance Institute.

In truth, Sharapova's support system extends beyond the court. After her victories last fall in singles and doubles in the Women's Tennis Association Japan Open, Sharapova came back to Bradenton to practice yoga with Sybel Boss, a professional instructor whose clientele includes NBA players Chauncey Billups and John Wallace, Lance Carter of the Devil Rays and hockey star John LeClair.

"The first time she came to my class almost three years ago, it was like something that was supposed to be a part of her life," Boss said. "It gave her body a chance to stretch out and relax and made a big difference in her flexibility, helped her become a lot looser.

"At Wimbledon, she was practicing some balancing poses before she played to help her concentrate and get focused. And when she dropped to the ground and threw her arms in the air (after defeating Williams), that is called a 'heroes pose,' " Boss said.

It's a pose her rivals may have to get used to seeing.

"Now, what is going to happen is you're going to have some rivalries come up," Bollettieri said. "(Opponents) are going to be looking (to beat) Maria to say 'Hey, I knocked off the Wimbledon champion.'

"Then Maria has to go up and perform. Any time you put yourself in the hot seat of being a Grand Slam winner and one of the best players in the world, you have to know other people want a piece of you and will elevate their game to beat you."

If that's the price of winning Wimbledon, it's a bill Sharapova seems eager to pay.

• Here are the lucky 13 Grand Slam singles champions who have trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy:

Player No. of Grand Slams (Breakdown) Andre Agassi Eight (2 U.S. Opens, 1 Wimbledon, 1 French, 4 Australian) Monica Seles Nine (2 U.S. Opens, 3 French, 4 Australian) Jim Courier Four (2 French, 2 Australian) Mary Pierce Two (1 French, 1 Australian) Maria Sharapova One (Wimbledon) Iva Majoli One (French) Petr Korda One (Australian) *Bjorn Borg 11 (5 Wimbledons, 6 French) *Pete Sampras 14 (5 U.S. Opens, 7 Wimbledon, 2 Australian) *Boris Becker Six (1 U.S. Open, 3 Wimbledon, 2 Australian) *Serena Williams Six (2 U.S. Opens, 2 Wimbledon, 1 French, 1 Australian) *Venus Williams Four (2 U.S. Opens, 2 Wimbledon) *Martina Hingis Five (1 U.S. Open, 1 Wimbledon, 3 Australian) * non-academy residents who trained on a part-time basis

Other articles about Sybel's Yoga:
Fruit of the Spirit

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