This 9-year-old escaped war in Ukraine. Now in the U.S., she’s tipped to be a future tennis superstar

Vlada Hranchar plays tennis in an undated photo. (Courtesy Maryna Hranchar via CNN Newsource)

Some might say that it’s too early to predict the future of a nine-year-old sporting sensation, and often they would be right to.

So much can happen during a young athlete’s development: Bodies change, the risk of burnout increases and simply desire in the sport can simply wane.

Yet, despite all of this, legendary tennis coach Rick Macci says he’s currently training the next superstar of the sport, nine-year-old Vlada Hranchar.

“I have no doubt this little girl is going to be number one in the world,” he tells CNN Sports during an interview alongside Hranchar and both her parents.

“I can see how she is wired and put together, and has a work ethic unsurpassed. All the other qualities as well, just the cardio and all these things wrapped in one. This little kid has every box checked.”

It’s quite the appraisal from a coach who has worked with some of the biggest names in the game, namely helping to kickstart the careers of both Serena and Venus Williams – a relationship which was the subject of the Oscar-winning film “King Richard” in 2021.

He is now is predicting a similar trajectory for Hranchar, and the story of how this astonishing young girl and her family wound up in their current position is worthy of a Hollywood script itself.

Hranchar was born in Ukraine to a sport-loving family. Her brother plays professional soccer in Ukraine and her parents allowed Hranchar to try out a variety of activities from an early age, including dance and gymnastics.

But, speaking to CNN Sports, Hranchar’s mom Maryna says her little daughter quickly became obsessed with just one sport – tennis.

During her first visit to a court aged three, Hranchar told her parents she would “beat everyone.” Little did they know it would soon become true.

“What I love about tennis is the competition. I love to beat everybody in matches. I want people to want to play like me one day,” Hranchar tells CNN Sports, giggling at her own confidence.

Escaping war

Hranchar is used to people telling her how good she is. She started getting attention for her remarkable skills at an early age, after her family set up an Instagram account which tracks her development as a juvenile athlete.

With momentum gathering and more people knowing her name, she was invited to play some tournaments in the United States. That invitation started the snowball which ended up with the whole family deciding to move to America.

Her father moved first to find work and set things up for when the family could eventually join him. That process was initially delayed due to COVID-19 constraints, but then sped up as war broke out in Ukraine in 2022.

With Russian troops making their way to the family home in Odessa, Hranchar and her mom fled. After navigating a long and complicated journey, one fraught with travel headaches and logistical nightmares, the family eventually reunited in New York.

Together at last, the family moved to Vermont thanks to the help of tennis coaches who had been impressed with Hranchar’s ability. As the youngster continued her sporting education in an ad hoc capacity, the big move to Rick Macci’s academy in Florida was just around the corner.

It all came about after Macci was tipped off by a close friend about Hranchar’s talent.

Since his work with the Williams sisters, Macci says he’s been told countless times about children who have the potential to be the next best thing. But, impressed with what he saw, he invited Hranchar to train at his academy in 2023, where she worked mainly with the other coaches at the center.

But after a month of seeing her play, he decided to offer her family a contractual relationship which would see him represent Hranchar himself.

It’s the first time, he says, he’s done such a thing since the Williams sisters.

“Her improvement is off the charts. Work ethic, the parents, it’s a team effort,” he says.

“The mom does all the fitness with her. The dad helps her mentally. You know, if I didn’t love the parents, and if I didn’t love the kid, I wouldn’t even get involved in this.

“I made a lot of great decisions in my life, but at this stage of my life, this is the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Hranchar tells CNN Sports that hearing her coach speak so highly of her during the interview gives her “confidence” but Macci knows nothing is guaranteed in sport.

A lot has to go right before this Ukrainian prodigy makes an impact on the professional tour, so Macci is not wanting to rush anything. He, and her parents, want Hranchar to enjoy her childhood first. Everything else, they say, will be a bonus.

But there is definitely something special about this youngster who has adopted the nickname “Panther” due to her self-confessed readiness to attack on the tennis court.

Day in the life of a prodigy

Tennis is very much her life now. Come rain or shine, Hranchar is up early to hone her game.

Her day typically starts when most people are still in bed, with her first session starting at 5 am. She trains at that same time seven days a week for around two to three hours, before ordinarily playing a game or hitting with a partner until around 11 am.

The work doesn’t stop when she’s off the court, though, with Hranchar taking advanced stretching classes twice a week. On top of that, the youngster takes taekwondo lessons three times a week to help with her balance and discipline.

Then it’s back to the court for another tennis session after lunch, before she swaps her racket for books with schoolwork starting from 3 p.m.

In addition to her training schedule, she aims to play two or three tournaments per month, with the result of those matches not nearly as important as the performances she puts in.

It’s a grueling workload on paper, but Macci and the parents say they’ve got the balance right between training and Hranchar having fun.

“She’ll be the best player in the world. I have no doubt about it,” Macci says.

“But you never get back your childhood and the fact is that she’s having a normal childhood, but obviously the emphasis is on tennis. I can say it right now, she’s the hardest worker I’ve ever coached in my life.”

Away from tennis, Hranchar is just like any normal nine-year-old. She tells CNN Sports that she loves to draw and enjoys going to the cinema or water parks with her close group of friends.

But, above all else, she loves sports and will regularly watch tennis in her spare time and she takes baby steps towards her ultimate dream.

“I want to be number one in the world, and I want to beat Serena’s record of slams,” Hranchar says defiantly.

The tennis world, it seems, will be watching and waiting.

By Ben Church, CNN