From Ukraine with love: Rick Macci working with 8-year-old tennis prodigy from Odessa

BOCA RATON — On a Wednesday morning last week at Boca Raton's Rick Macci Tennis Academy, a mother stood behind a hopper of tennis balls, tossing them one at a time to her 8-year-old daughter. The young girl sliced serves into the box amid the scorching South Florida heat.

This went on for a while before Macci, the legendary tennis teaching wizard of Williams-sisters fame, stepped onto the court to observe.

On the blue hardcourts off Cain Road in Boca Raton, tennis greatness grows. And Macci think he’s got a great one on his hands in 8-year-old Vlada Hracher, complete with a Ukrainian backstory.

“Within one minute when I saw this little girl on the court, I knew I could help make her a champion,’’ said Macci, portrayed famously in the recent film about the Williams Sisters childhood, “King Richard."

“I’ve been approached tens of thousands of times and haven’t done this since Venus and Serena.’’

Vlada is on a Macci scholarship. Macci is covering expenses for her tennis training, housing and the family’s health insurance. He not only instructs her on court daily but represents her as an agent.

It’s a similar arrangement Macci had with the Williams family from 1991 to 1995 after the family moved to the Delray Beach area from Compton, Calif.

“There are many talented people all around the world and they don’t get a chance,’’ Macci said. “To be at this stage of my career, to give someone an opportunity, knowing the backstory and what amazing people the mom, dad are and the little girl, it’s the best thing ever. It’s the best thing ever that I’m not just changing a stroke, I’m changing a life.’’

The family's escape from Odessa

Maryna Hrancher and her daughter Vlada escaped their Ukrainian city of Odessa two years ago. Vlada was a youth tennis star in Ukraine. At age 5, she was ranked No. 1 in Ukraine in the 10-and-under division and built an Instagram following of 100,000-plus. (It’s now at 190,000).

Maryna speaks just a tad of English. Vlada, home-schooled in Boca Raton, understands more than she speaks and occasionally will translate English into Ukrainian for her mother.

The Russian-Ukraine war started in February 2022 and Odessa, a seaport city, was one of the first places hit. On February 24, 2022, a military base near their home was attacked.

“The morning starts and we hear a very big bomb close to the house,’’ Maryna recalled in broken English. “My heart was stressed. The beds moved. Vases, glasses broken. Not good for Vlada. We go to America.’’

The following day, Maryna made the decision to leave everything behind, including Vlada’s brother, Vadym, and Vlada’s grandparents, in an attempt to get to the United States. Vlada had drawn invites from a tennis coach in Vermont, testament to her social-media scope. She took only a tennis racket and a few dolls.

(Her father Dymtro was already in America, scouting out potential junior tournament sites before the war.)

Maryna drove hours to the nearby country, Moldova, during which they were stopped for 19 hours at a security checkpoint due to the new war. Then Maryna and Vlada took a 20-hour bus journey to Poland to seek a flight.

However , airplane tickets were too expensive to afford that day amid the tumult and they spent four days in Poland waiting for prices to come down. They finally purchased a flight to New York, drove to a freezing-cold bus station in upstate Albany to meet the Vermont tennis pro, Chris Lewit.

The Londonderry, Vermont tennis campus was even colder and after a year-and-a-half, Maryna thought Vlada needed warmer climes to train since professional tennis was the goal. Vlada had started at age 3 after she didn’t take to ballet or gymnastics.

The esteemed tennis writer, Peter Bodo, formerly of Tennis Magazine, convinced Macci to give Vlada a look.

'She's already a champion with her work ethic, discipline, desire'

In January, Vlada was Boca-bound. Macci had fallen in love with everything about her.

“She’s already a champion with her work ethic, discipline, desire,’’ Macci said. “It’s my job on the outside to show her the strokes and how to play. There’s a long way to go. I have no doubt if she keeps working hard, this little girl will be the best player in the world some day.’’

Macci knows a championship heart. Though he’s best known for his Williams work, Macci also drilled Jennifer Capriati in the late 1980s and, Maria Sharapova in the late 1990s at the Inverarry Resort in Broward County. He also spent time with Andy Roddick, a former Boca Raton resident, at his academy when it moved to Delray Beach in the early 1990s.

"I see all these intangibles,’ Macci said. “She actually has all the time in the world. I saw this in Serena, too. She doesn’t feel rushed. I see so many boxes checked of greatness. No one has done this more in the world than myself. My job is to get the technical and strategic part. The game is going to be different in 8 years. I’m always ahead of the game.

“I’ve never seen a more disciplined, happy child in my life,’’ Macci added. “She can be a brutal competitor and then love everything. She’s a unique child.’’

Though she seems to understand English perfectly and is not shy like most 8-year-olds, Vlada’s English words come out slowly and carefully. Vlada looks like any ordinary third-grade girl – each fingernail painted in a different shade of pink and blues.

“I love everything here,’’ Vlada said. “I love tennis. I love to hit balls, hit winners and it’s fun. I love Rick. He’s a very amazing person. He’s my favorite coach.’’

Asked why she likes Macci, Vlada says, “He has a smile. He hits fast balls to me and tells me if it’s wrong or right.’’

Maryn is a fitness specialist – a 5-foot-10, former track runner at a Ukraine university who played tennis sparingly. But she still feeds Vlada balls at practice. Maryn runs Vlada’s Instagram account to perfection, posting the training and boosting her daughter’s profile.

Vlada, who is 4-foot-2, which is average height for an 8-year-old, is on the tennis court for an extraordinary amount of time. She’s drilling from 8 a.m. to noon and then again from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. for a second session. In between, Vlada does her home schooling.

Macci calls Vlada “Panther’’ but he has another analogy when talking about Vlada’s speed.

“You’ve seen a squirrel run, right?,’’ Macci said. “Quick. This is quicker than quick, faster than fast. Tennis is a movement sport. It’s genetics. You can’t win the race if you don’t have a thoroughbred but she’s also a great competitor.

Vlada already winning on juniors circuit

Two weeks ago, Vlada won a junior tournament in West Palm Beach for 10-and-unders without dropping a game. Yes, 6-0, 6-0 across the board.

More: Boca Raton tennis legend Rick Macci gets red-carpet moment with 'King Richard'

Macci has always been a master hype man, written two books about tennis. But he’s been around enough tennis stars to identify a can’t-miss prodigy.

Macci is 69 and could be closing in fast on 80 by the time Vlada makes her U.S. Open debut.

“I’m going to make this little girl’s dream come true.’’ Macci said. “This isn’t anything other than me trying to make her No. 1 in the world. If I don’t make this girl that, in my opinion, I did a bad job. This isn’t about No. 100. I know how to mold greatness.’’

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ukrainian girl hopes to follow in tennis footsteps of Serena, Venus Williams