Behind every champion are dedicated parents. In the third episode of Raising a Champion, we focus on Julia Efremova, the mother of Ksenia, an 11-year-old prodigy considered one of the greatest young talents in tennis history.
This video is captivating, inspiring and disturbing all at the same time. There are many interesting themes in the video. The mother fanatical almost maniacal method. The girls incredible workmanship and drive at such a young age. I kept asking, “will the girls body break before she does?” Competitive sports is definitely NOT for everyone. This video is the closest thing I’ve seen to a representation of what it takes to excel not only in competitive tennis but sports and life as well. Well done. I’ll look forward to seeing Ksenia at the Junior US Open in a few years. She will definitely be there at that amazing pace.
It is because loads of people at 11 or more do that because they need someone to guide them like her she is very good she needs to be in an environment that keeps her well since she is at this stage
Everyone has a different capacity for work. As long as she doesn't break down physically and get injured or mentally and burn out there's nothing wrong with practicing a lot.
My parent was also like this when it came to tennis, I peaked at 12 then started throwing matches just to end it. Suffocating having a parent that lives through you. Wait till she finds out about social media and brand deals - will get a Bouchard 2.0
She is 11 years old. There's no way anyone can know if this girl will make it as a professional at this point in time. There are far too many variables that may or may not fall into place. All I do know is as she continues to progress, the level of pressure will only increase.
these are the exact kids that do make it professional, unless they get an injury. It's not a lottery. Her mom is very aware of what it takes as she was a pro herself.
you can't win every match. I feel sorry for this little girl. She has huge talent and she will be burned out by the time she is 16. The mother is living vicariously through her daughter.
Why would you feel sorry for her? She has a passion and is thriving. She's one of the top juniors in the world. Feel sorry for the kid on the couch watching cartoons cause they have lazy and loser parents.
@20:55 All remaining hope for this mother is lost! What a vain, selfish, uncaring, parent. She obviously cares more about winning and living vicariously through her kids than she does the emotional welfare of her daughter. You can be FIRM and DEMAND EXCELLENCE IN EFFORT without being a monster.
Can you really say an 11 y/o is one of the greatest talents ? I mean many amazing players including junior slam champions fail at the pro circuit. My best wishes for this girl, I’m just saying it’s to early to call her "one of the greatest talents in tennis history "
@@juliehaithcox2675 I hope you are right, I like this success stories a lot. My point is that when you are a kid and then you become an adolescent and then an adult things change in you body and mind, a super child athlete might not develop into a super athlete in adulthood.
I know a bunch of kids top 5 in the country at a young age but then they either quit tennis or don’t improve because of burnout I hope that doesn’t happen to her but it looks like it might with the moms intensity
I see a lot of arguing and a lot of different opinions in the comments. The type of influence Julia has on her daughter, can be good or bad depending on ksenias mindset. Some people need this type of endurance to become successful. Go big or go home. For ksenias sake I hope she has passion for the sport and this is what she really wants to do, and is NOT just doing it for her mother. Having a good education and social network is important. You are very talented and I hope you find success while still doing what you love.
"everything has to be perfect". No, it doesn't. I wish her well but the mother is clueless. Losing is part of the sport. You learn from it. You dont punish and yell at a 11 year old. Pathetic.
Esa es la diferencia entre jugar por puro hobbie o por ser un profesional . Si estas academias no tuvieran psicologos deportivos la chica o niña a la larga se frustraria al tener un padre/madre tan demandon o demandona , aca el balance psicologico emocional lo pone el entrenador y el psicologo deportivo. A simple vista parece reprochable la actitud de la madre pero psicologicamente muchas veces necesitamos una voz demandona que exija perfeccion y otra voz mas reconfortante y mas amable que crea en ti. Es un juego psicologico, repito si esta niña no estuviera en una academia profesional con profesionales hace rato esta niña hubiera tirado la raqueta al suelo.
I wish Ksenia the best of success in her life, whatever she chooses to do. But in my opinion, putting so high expectations and pressure to perform on such a younger player might (and frequently does) backfire. While the vast majority of top players were prodigies as kids and trained very hard, that does not work the other way around. Most "prodigies" get lost along the way. There are plenty of videos showing "future top pro players" over 8~10 years ago, of kids that never succeeded. Only time will tell. The scene at 20:54 is not "powerful", it is simply terrible.
Poor little girl. 💔 Her mother is the epitome of a tiger parent, she wants it more than Ksenia does, very scary to watch. And I’m missing SCHOOLING in her day, she isn’t getting an education at all?!
Yes she is getting an education. The campus where she trains at is offering it. You don’t become a professional without hard conditions. Y’all are soft.
True. It has to come from within. If the parent(s) or coaches want it more than the player it's not going to happen. I know that from personal experience. I worked with a talented young woman who played 1 year of D1 college tennis and wanted to try the pros. We were together for 3 years. Great progress the first 2. Then struggles and physical problems. She decided to go back to school and won over 95% of her matches as a redshirt senior. Her dad told me that I did a good job and she got what she wanted out of tennis. Initially I felt like I failed because she had the talent and game to do it but upon reflection and the talk with her dad I realized that I wanted it more for her than she wanted it for herself.
Exactly what i was thinking while watching this. Looks like the only goal for the mother is to create a champion among her children, at any cost... does she really care about her daughter s feeling and well being...? I don t wanna be judgemental here, but i am not really sure.
Oh cmon! Pushing a child to play sports can never a be bad thing. How would she as a 12 year old know what she wants. And btw, sports is not only good for body but also mind. She’s not only learning tennis but fitness and discipline. I wish I could have been forced to play tennis when I was young
There is nothing wrong in a parent pushing her kids to be better at something. Take the Williams sisters, their dad had already planned better future for them, he grinded it into them, now they laugh at your bank account, those girls are happy their dad and mom pushed them to be world class tennis players. People like you always look for something wrong instead of appreciating I rather hv my child practising a sport outside than sitting at home on their tablets, playing video games
Interesting that the video I saw of her previously she was using a Wilson Clash. Not sure if that was before or after the video footage here where she's using a Yonex Ezone.
It's amazing that people are actually losing to her. She's like 50 lbs, no power, and she's like 4 ft. tall. The 21 year old girl gave her a steady diet of high balls and beat her. This girl is good for her age, but she won't be great until she grows more.
To think Moratoglou agreed it was OK to operate in this manner makes me very concerned about his approach to developing talent. I once read nobody knows how to create a champion. They are born. This is a fact. If you are not born to win Wimbledon you never will. Training 10 hours a day won't make it happen. Kindness is required to help those who are born to win Wimbledon to do it. If kindness is absent even those born to do it will fail. There was an absence of kindness in that discussion after losing the match. I would advise strongly to change the approach. Even then if the genes are not there to win slams it won't happen regardless of what training is done. Best of luck to her but remember also you can have a great career without a racket in your hand kid. Just remember success in life does not require a tennis racket. It just requires that you do what you love and love what you do. Tennis can be a hobby while you do something completely different for your career. Accountancy, Law, IT. Take your pick.
it's talent, hardwork and dedication. they practiced and dedicated more of their life to tennis more than you will ever even dream of. you are disrespecting the champions talking about "they're born" not made.
@@isabellalee8330 you wont become champion - you born as champion /MINDSET which means ferocious will to become the best in the world .MINDSET and not talent ; MINDSET is the key not the talent / technical ability
I would say this is a fair representation of children in academies around the world that have been earmarked with future potential and are funded fully. For those looking in, it seems like child cruelty, its certainly not normal. But to be ready to enter the top arena, you need to be ready, and your never ready following a "normal" path. That's said, I have a friend who won Wimbledon and AUS open as a junior who never made it on tour, of which there are many like this. So it's all a gamble, really but if she makes it, Maratogalu will get his money back in spades and invest that in the next protégé with pushy parents. Incidently, I have seen way less pushy parent with boys than with girls.
Julia is copying everything Anna Kournikova has said, word for word. When she talks about tennis being an art and the tennis court is a stage. Julia is desperate to turn Ksenia into the next Kournikova. Sad. Mother living through daughter NEVER woks well. Time will tell.
That's why whatever was said by kournikova matters.Its to inspire people ,for them to listen and try to emulate .All I see is a mother trying desperately to make her daughter a great athlete ,to which even the great moratoglou agrees ,so I respectfully disagree but I could be wrong like you said time will tell,sure hope for the best though because thats a lot of effort regardless.
How sad to see that woman in the video projects herself in her daughter! This can cause serious psychological effects in the child! The young girl might win finals but is she happy?
I used to think Murataglou would be a good coach for kids--not so much anymore. Seems he is okay with burning out and over-pressurizing kids, so long as he gets only one who goes pro and who he can use to advertise his academy. The odds are with him, not with these kids.
Девочка просто быстро бегает .Подача без пронации ! Женский форхенд !Из девочки выжили максимум не вижу куда рости. Да нужно быстро бегать. Девочка бегунок и выигрывает на грунте. Но теннис меняется и будет ли она выигрывать за счет только бега ,вопрос?
да!! я не понимаю чего они её так окрашивают…. девочка хорошо играет, но не прям так как топ про, или топ юниор. очень плохо что они ей в голову забивают что она уже вот будит про, надо к ней относится как обычный 11-летний ребёнок.
Her mom got mad because Ksenia gave in to a certain extend during the match, instead of fighting for every point. Her mom is not mad because she lost the match, but because she thought she "gave up". The coach also said that her mom is educating her regarding "believing in her self"
As a father of competitive junior who is 8 years old I can say her mother is just monster, as a parent I understand her and often I do the same and then I regret for so many days or even years I guess but we should not be like that. She wants her to win every match, but the reality is that the path she chose is gambling, especially tennis is gambling in terms of whether she really would become pro player or not, I've seen this girl competing in Tennis Europe and she easily lost to a european girl with 32 unforced and forced errors. Tennis is so tough sport to play.
what does it matter ? She s going to become a champion, then she ll have friends. It s not these ridiculously idiotic kids that we see in state schools that you're going to see become legends like her.
@@badkaladoo8637 Why are you so quick to judge? No matter if it's biology, family or culture, everybody is different. Your definition of happiness may not apply to others.
if shes actually taking the kid away from her father who doesnt have long to live just to keep pushing in tennis then thats probably the worst of it all
Wonderful video , I am absolutely delighted for seeing such a video made , as I am a mother who is going through the same process for my daughter , every moment & expression captured are so similar as our journey in making a champion . Superb video 👍
So be careful to not think the same way at some points... This mother goes too far... How many "i want her to..." But she is not her. She gives a LOT of pressure and want her to be an agressive player to make winners etc... But it has to be her choices, not the mother choices... How many players finish to stop their relation with parents becauemse of that. Because of the pressure, because their parents are more coach than parents liké this mother it seems...
Please remember it has to be your child's dream and don't make it their dream because it's the only way they can get positive reinforcement from you coming from an elite dancer who now teaches and can tell between kids who live to dance and kids who's mums want them to dance ( also let kids do stuff they enjoy regardless if talent , to my surprise my daughter fate's jazz ,ballet, tap and loves hip hop, musical theatre and trampolining all of which she is cheerfully terrible at but she has a ball
si petite …quand elle aura grandit son service aura évolué et son jeu avec …it takes time 😉son tennis sera bcp plus agressif et complet …ça promet en tout cas
You going overboard. Pressure isn’t bad. You just need to give them space too. Pressure is something people have deal with in life. So if not prepared for it then they will not handle it well. It’s not disgusting. She is happy kid
She'll burn out in four years. And all self-promotion aside Moratoglou, 11-year olds don't have "championship-level" character. She's 11 dude! She's been conditioned...almost brain-washed into believing she'll be the best in the world. She will burn out. And when she does, Moratoglou will showcase the "next tennis prodigy."
I find some of the negative comments a bit unfair ,I respect where some people are coming from but to be real I see a lot more yelling in most households to kids that aren't really working to achieve anything.Its fine to criticise and want to appear like the perfect parent but what I see is sacrifice to give a child a great future .She is already going to play on tour ,her talent is remarkable and hopefully her brother makes it too.If you ever wondered what a real strong parent is ,or what it takes to protect your child's future ,look at the way,you give them a gift ,like tennis,guide them and protect them all the way to the top ,that what it takes.Now having normal kids is also fine too,but I think most people wish great things for their kids and its not a walk in the park ,this is the reality.So respect to her parents and I wish their acheive their dreams.
Sorry but I really dont understand why the comments are so negative and bad. I am practicing 6h a day as well. Its because we looooove the game, its our life and our passion. my dad talks to me the same way julia is talking with ksenia. whats wrong on this mindset. if she would only practice for 2h a day, you would comment its to less and like this she will never win a grand slam. so if you have little dreams that you can reach easily, is it a dream them? it makes kind of angry when i see these comments, if you are not involved in someones life from the beginning please dont comment these things. if you have a parent like this is the best thing for a sportler that can happpen. julia want it because she saw the passion in ksenias eyes, i mean everyone can see the passion in her eyes. and now 1 week ago she won her first adult tournament in poland....
I completely agree with you. I haven't been playing tennis for very long but in spite of this I have managed to play well against some players that are ranked up to 15/3. I don't know what her ranking is but no one truly realises how mentally exhausting and physically draining matches are.
that's fucking stuid just by playing more hours you WONT win. if you play 1h and do your maximum every minute then you will become better but playing 6h for playing bad in the training its fucking pathetic
@@sky-nj2gr have you ever saw a good tennisplayer, just saying "I´m playing 1 hour a day. than i can give my maximum." You will never hear it. soooo stupid!!
Its very funny all the comments, people that doesnt know what is a real commitement to somenthing you love, people think that you achieve big things putting the average effort like everyone else... She is at mouratoglu, there you have to finish at least studies of highschool, thats the program at the elite sports academies, you study every day and train every day. People see this video of 20 minuts and they are even tired of how much effort you have to put to achieve something that not everyone can achieve.....
