Tennis is one of the most individual and mentally demanding sports, but for many child champions, the toughest opponent was never on the other side of the net — it was at home. An entire chapter of tennis history is written in harshness, fear, and crushing expectations, with the main characters being parent-coaches. From Steffi Graf to Stefanos Tsitsipas, from Jennifer Capriati to the Williams sisters, tennis is full of stories where the dream of success turned into a nightmare because of parental pressure and authoritarian coaching.

Slaps

Steffi Graf was just a few hours old when her father, Peter Graf, declared that his daughter would become a champion. By the age of three she was holding a racket, and by six she was already winning tournaments. Ultimate glory came in 1988, when Steffi won all four Grand Slams as well as the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics. But the success had a price: reports revealed that her father slapped her when she made mistakes and even bragged about his severity.

A similar — and even darker — story is that of Graf’s future husband, Andre Agassi. His father, Mike Agassi, of Iranian-Armenian descent and a former boxer, was the archetype of the authoritarian coach-father. From infancy, he tied a racket to Andre’s hand, built him a court in the yard, and devised a machine that fired balls at over 100 km/h. Andre grew up with fear and relentless pressure, later describing his father as a “tyrant.”

Jennifer Capriati, one of the biggest talents of the 1990s, was driven to the edge by her father, Stefano. He suffocated her with relentless training and tournament schedules. He later admitted he had put her under excessive pressure. The Capriati case forced the WTA to change its rules for underage players, introducing restrictions for athletes under 18.

Another striking example is Jim Pierce, father of Mary Pierce. In 1992, he moved the family to France to advance his daughter’s career. But he became one of the sport’s most negative figures: yelling, insulting opponents and parents, even hitting fans. At one tournament he shouted, “Kill her, Mary!” His behavior led to the creation of the “Jim Pierce Rule,” which allows tournament organizers to ban members of a player’s entourage — even their parents.

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, were not spared from the strict guidance of their father, Richard. With roots in Louisiana and a life scarred by racial discrimination, Richard trained his daughters with a 78-page plan. He forbade relationships, destroyed Venus’s dolls, and planted signs with orders in the garden. His approach was militaristic, but he believed he had saved them from poverty and racism.

Back Again

The story repeats in the modern era. The tennis world, and not only, knows that Stefanos Tsitsipas was raised by his father and coach, Apostolos. Recently, however, he temporarily broke off their cooperation and worked with Goran Ivanišević. Shortly afterwards, he called him a “dictator” and said he felt no harmony with him at all. A surprised Ivanišević responded: “With this generation you can’t say anything. Every word is magnified.” In the end, Tsitsipas returned to his father, who, as Ivanišević said, “is the only one who can coach him.”

The pattern is not new. Suzanne Lenglen, who dominated tennis between the two World Wars, was coached by her father, who forced her to hit handkerchiefs on the court and gave her cognac to calm her nerves. She died of leukemia at age 39, and her last words to journalists were: “Let me live a little.”