Tennis academy breeding five-year old demon children

July 30th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

It’s not exactly Tim Floyd signing taking a verbal commitment from an eighth grader … well, actually, it’s worse: five-year-old Jan Silva — yes, five years old — is the latest addition to Mouratoglou Tennis Academy near Paris. That little monster is the youngest player in the academy by a long shot, so young even IMG Academy in Florida felt uncomfortable taking him in.

Maattanen-Silva, 32, acknowledges that what she and her husband are doing is unusual, but she rejects the notion they are forcing tennis on their son. “Everyone thinks we’re crazy, but when they come and actually meet us they are like, ‘This kid loves it,’ ” says Mari, a tennis instructor who now teaches at Mouratoglou’s academy. “We don’t have to push him.”

There’s no blueprint for raising a tennis champion, but the formula often involves a kid swinging a racket before being able to read or write. Many go to big academies, though rarely as early as Jan. Parents usually are heavily involved.

Agassi’s father, for example, dangled tennis balls in his crib to sharpen his eye-hand coordination. By age 6, the future eight-time Grand Slam tournament champion was doing interviews and exhibitions. Tracy Austin had her image on the cover of Tennis Week magazine before her fifth birthday; she won the U.S. Open at 16.

The Silvas’ decision to uproot themselves and hitch their future to a 4-foot, 60-pound boy who likes SpongeBob SquarePants might seem bold. The examples of overbearing and fanatical parents in tennis — and numerous celebrated flameouts by young players — might make it seem reckless.

Reckless? Pshh. When I was five, I was my father’s personal chauffeur. Along with the family horse, I pulled his sled to work, five hours, uphill in the snow, every day. And then I came home and he trained me in the Shaolin shadowboxing style of MMA. And then we went to the batting cages, and he forced me to take balls into the shoulder and chest. Still haven’t caught up with Biggio’s hit-by-pitch record, like he always wanted, but I’ve still got time.

None of that actually happened. But I’d have preferred it to being forced to go play tennis in France.