By Ben Church, CNN
(CNN) — 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