Maria Sharapova's father Yuri had a novel way of celebrating his daughter's triumph at Wimbledon back in 2004 in an insightful story by Max Eisenbud, her long-time agent who has worked with her for more than two decades and also now works with Emma Raducanu.
Sharapova defeated Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 in the final at SW19 back in 2004 to claim her first Grand Slam trophy. The Russian was only 17 at the time, but her family had sacrificed a lot to reach that point with Yuri sacrificing a settled life to move to Miami to let Sharapova train from the age of nine. He didn't hold back when it culminated in his daughters triumph as he shot off into the English mountains simply with $10,000 to party the night away and celebrate the triumph without his daughter who was left with Eisenbud.
"When she [Maria Sharapova] won [Wimbledon 2004], he [Yuri] wanted, he made us go to the bank, you know the bank on the side of Wimbledon to get $10,000. You know, you can’t travel with more than $10,000. He took 10,000 cash and went with his buddies in the mountains and partied for like a week and left me with her," Eisenbud said to Andy Roddick in the latest episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
"He left the next morning, ten in cash and went to party with all his friends. I never know where he went, he just said: 'I'm going, meeting all my buddies, that I grew up with in the mountains and we're going to party.' I didn’t ask any questions, all my job was I needed to get him 10,000 in cash and he was going to party with his friends," he added.
Maria Sharapova says her 1st Wimbledon final against Serena Williams made her realize tennis is a business: “I was born in Russia & went to the United States when I was a 5-year-old with my father. I had a small talent & my dad had a big vision. I followed his steps and his…
