Steffi (center) celebrates with her mother Heidi and father Peter Graf after winning Wimbledon in 1991. Photo: AFP

Just hours after Steffi Graf's birth, her father Peter declared she would be a champion. At 3 years and 10 months old, he placed a short-handled wooden racket in her hand. Soon, they were hitting balls back and forth over the living room sofa. If Steffi could return the ball 25 consecutive times, she'd get ice cream and strawberries.

In 1987, Peter told the Los Angeles Times, “Most of the time, on the 25th shot, I hit it harder so she couldn’t get it, because I couldn’t always be giving her ice cream.”

By 6, Steffi was winning tournaments. At 13, she won the German under-18 junior championship. In 1988, Graf achieved the Golden Slam, winning all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic gold medal in Seoul, South Korea.

Steffi seemed like a goddess. But what price did she pay to reach such Olympian heights? In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Steffi said she often looked to her father in the stands for inspiration between points. “He was very good to me,” she said.

However, journalists Klaus Brinkbaumer, Hans Leyendecker, and Heiner Schimmoller painted a darker, more painful picture in their 1996 book "Rich Steffi, Poor Child". They described Peter slapping his daughter for missed shots or failure to master a new technique.

The authors quoted Horst Schmitt, a family friend and financial advisor, recalling Peter coming down from Steffi’s bedroom after a disappointing practice session, boasting, “I just gave her a proper slap.”

Steffi at the peak of her career in 1988. Playing professionally from 1982 to 1999, she is the third most successful Grand Slam player with 22 titles, including the all-time record of winning at least four times at each Grand Slam. Graf also holds the record of 377 weeks at number one in the world and 8 times finishing the year in this position. Photo: AFP

For renowned tennis players whose parents were former players themselves, there was no paradise, only clay, grass, and concrete courts. These tennis parents were like military drill sergeants with their own commandments and ruthless methods.

The archetype of the parent obsessed with their child’s development is Mike Agassi. “In short, was I a tyrant? Yes. Was I strict and demanding? Yes. But I insist: it is better to be a father, a parent, next to your child in sport, than a coach," Mike once told journalist Emanuela Audisio in Repubblica.

Mike presented his book, "Indoor", as a response to "Open", the autobiography written by his son Andre Agassi, which became a foundational tennis legend and a story about the resentment that can fester in a child.

Andre’s picture on the cover was taken by Martin Schoeller, a student of famed American photographer Annie Leibovitz. The book begins with a quote from Vincent van Gogh. Legendary artist Barbra Streisand is mentioned in the acknowledgments. The ghostwriter was JR Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who worked for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Yet, Mike’s shadow looms large over Andre throughout the book, like a hand around his throat.

Mike Agassi was a former Iranian boxer who settled in Las Vegas, an overbearing sports dad, and an obsessed coach. He tried to turn all his children into stars.

Rita, Mike’s first child, born in 1960, was strong, both physically and mentally, but Pancho Gonzales, a former tennis player, “stole” her from Mike. Pancho became Rita’s coach, fell in love with her, and married her despite being more than 20 years her senior. That was the end of it. “He alienated her from me and ruined her,” Mike said.

His second child, Phillip, was a decent tennis player, but his older sister Rita constantly demoralized him by calling him a failure. Tami was also talented but physically weak, always tired, and chose studying over competing.

So, Mike pinned all his hopes on Andre, his youngest child.

Mike and his youngest son Andre, who later won 8 Grand Slams, an ATP Finals championship, an Olympic gold medal in 1996, and held the top spot in the ATP Rankings for an extended period.

He strapped a racket to Andre’s wrist as a toddler and subjected him to rigorous daily training. He built a tennis court in their backyard and created a ball-serving machine called "the dragon," which fired balls at over 60 mph.

Mike had absolute faith in numbers: “I told Andre that if he hit 2,500 balls a day, he’d hit 17,500 a week, and close to a million a year. A kid who hits a million balls a year will be unbeatable.”

Andre called his father a tyrant. The human story is often a protracted conflict between the oppressed and the oppressor, between those who want to impose and those who resist. And behind it all is the battle between generations.

Stefano, the father of former world number one Jennifer Capriati, who moved to Florida in the 1990s, realized this when his daughter was arrested at 18 for marijuana possession. "I put too much pressure on her. I should have given her more space. Instead, I cooked for her and lived with her 24 hours a day. Sometimes she would say, 'I don’t want to train this week.' But I still insisted she prepare for the next tournament," he recalled.

A few years earlier, when things were still going well, sitting in his living room with his white Shih Tzu, Stefano told the New York Times, “You can't make a good tennis player with one hour of training a day. You can't have a champion without parental involvement.”

But in Jennifer’s story, there was always a burden - the burden of youth. "Just because I took five weeks off to concentrate on school, does that mean I'm burned out? Get real. Suppose one day I decide I hate tennis and want to quit. Then I’ll need my education. And if I enjoy being home with friends, taking a break from tennis, what’s wrong with that?"

Jennifer Capriati's case prompted the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) to review its regulations regarding young players, leading to age and tournament limits for players under 18 in 1995.

Jennifer Capriati won the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics at just 16, and later won 3 Grand Slam titles at the 2001 French Open, 2001 and 2002 Australian Open.

It’s not always a "father and son" story. Sometimes, the generational clash extends to fathers and daughters, and it's difficult to put into words. Bob Dylan sang, “Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command,” in "The Times They Are A-Changin’." But in tennis, that seemed like a preposterous notion.

Jim, a former jewelry salesman from Florida, moved his family to southern France in 1992 so his 15-year-old daughter, Mary Pierce, a former world number three, could further her tennis career. Frustrated by what he saw as a lack of support from American coaches and tennis officials, he believed she would have a better chance elsewhere.

“I’ve never gotten a dime from the U.S. Tennis Association,” said Jim, a North Carolina native. “But I’m too tough to quit helping my kids. When I was a kid, I left home and nobody helped me do anything. She’s got one shot in life. I don’t want her looking back and wondering why her dad didn’t help her.”

In 2020, The Guardian profiled Mary Pierce, the two-time Grand Slam champion with three passports and an overbearing father. Jim taunted opponents, argued with their parents, and publicly berated his daughter. And he bragged about it.

At the 1987 Orange Bowl, one of the most prestigious junior tennis tournaments, Jim yelled, “Mary, kill the bitch!” By 1992, things came to a head: he was ejected from the grounds after punching two Dutch fans. The WTA instituted the “Jim Pierce rule,” stipulating that a member of a player’s entourage could be banned from any event.

Mirjana Lucic and Jelena Dokic have publicly alleged the abuse they say they suffered at the hands of their fathers. Dokic's 2017 autobiography, "Unbreakable," has been described as "a study of the relentless cycle of abuse and the powerlessness to escape a father," Damir, determined to control his daughter’s life. The book, one of many, is a reminder of the excessive parental interference in tennis in the 1990s.

Richard Williams, father of America's most famous sisters, Venus and Serena, once sat at home in Long Beach, California, watching a match at Roland Garros. The $40,000 prize money for the winner caught his attention. The New Yorker traced the origins of the man later portrayed on screen by Will Smith.

A Black man born in Louisiana amidst harsh segregation, Richard was put on a bus by his strict mother to seek a new life. He moved to California, learning tennis from a man nicknamed Old Whiskey, paying for lessons with bottles of liquor.

Richard said he wrote a multi-page plan to turn his unborn daughters into tennis stars. According to The New Yorker, when Venus and Serena were born, Richard “hung signs around the house reinforcing life lessons: ‘Venus, you will be the greatest tennis player ever,’ and tennis technique: ‘Serena, you will hold your racket like this.’” He forbade his daughters from having boyfriends and, to deter any thoughts of motherhood, ripped the heads off any dolls Venus brought home.

Venus (left) and Serena (right) with their father Richard Williams. Photo: AFP

Today, young athletes are meticulously prepared with nutritionists, sports psychologists, and even private chefs. They are systematized, but also more vulnerable. When parents exploit that vulnerability, the risk of their children's downfall is substantial. But this isn’t just a modern problem.

Suzanne Lenglen, winner of six Wimbledon and French Open titles between the two world wars, was driven to success by her father, Charles. He introduced her to tennis at 10, imposed a strict training regimen, and forced her to repeatedly hit a handkerchief placed on the court. He also gave her sips of brandy from a flask between matches. Upon retiring, Suzanne told reporters, “Let me live a little.” She died of leukemia at 39 in 1938.

Nearly half a century later, Gloria built a tennis court behind her house and coached her son, former world number one Jimmy Connors, every day. She once revealed her terrifying training method: “I told him to try to hit the ball down my throat, and he learned how to do it because he knew if I got the chance, I’d hit it down his.”

During one of Jimmy’s later matches, she even yelled from the stands, “Kick him in the balls, Jimmy!”

There are always parents who hold back and others who gradually release their emotional burdens. Therefore, children resenting their parents becomes a classic motif, filled with prejudice and pain. It’s a world that sometimes needs to look inward.

Hoang Thong (according to Gazzetta dello Sport)