Rick Macci and Vlada Hranchar have released Episode 1 of their new podcast, Inside the Rise of a Tennis Prodigy | Rick Macci & The Little Panther, offering a behind-the-scenes look at junior phenom Vlada Hranchar. In the debut episode, the two explore Vlada’s origins in Ukraine, her journey to Florida, and the coaching relationship shaping her development.
Photo courtesy of Rick Macci.
Vlada’s story started in Ukraine with a fire she didn’t know where to place. “I tried a lot of things — I tried gymnastics, dance, and I didn’t really like it,” she says. Tennis was different from the first day she picked up a racquet. “So, the first practice I remembered that I loved it. I said, ‘Mom, I have I have to stay,’” she explains, and the habit formed fast. “So, I practiced every day and I loved it,” she says, describing love for the game before she even knew about her love for competition.
The initial competitive drive arrived almost immediately. At a young age, she was already playing the 10s division. “Yeah. I just turned five, I remember. I got fourth place, and everybody was shocked.” The part that matters isn’t the placing, it’s the passion she felt in that moment. “I enjoyed the competition. I didn’t know that I loved the competition,” she says. “I just focused on the match and then just loved it.”
Photo courtesy of Maryna Hranchar.
Vlada’s training was about to be begin. “My dad flew to America, to New York,” where he would search until he found a place for Vlada to train, leading to Vlada’s next destination, Vermont. In Vermont, the answer she heard most wasn’t about talent, it was about age. “Everyone’s like no you’re too young to be in an academy,” she remembers, and the part that stayed with her was what she wanted to do anyway. “I’m like I have to train now,” she says.
Macci’s piece of the story begins with a video and a name attached to it. “Peter Bodo, senior tennis writer for tennis.com sent me a video and he said, ‘There’s this little girl from Ukraine I want you to take a look at,’” he says. “You were like so small and the racquet was like bigger than you,” he says, but he noticed movement and possibility. “I did see a tremendous athlete with a lot of potential,” Macci says.
Photo courtesy of Maryna Hranchar.
The first day on-court included playing some points. “Right off the bat, after hitting a few balls we got into the competition,” he says. “Once you started playing the competitive points, I knew there was something special inside of you,” he explains. “You don’t judge a book by the cover like 20 other people did, who say, ‘come back when you’re eight years old,’” he says. What Rick saw in this 5 year old girl was enough for him to say, “If you want to move to Florida… you can come to the academy.”
When Vlada talks about her game, she talks about it like a player trying to build a toolkit, not a player chasing one identity. “I love every shot,” she says. “Everyone asks, ‘What’s your favorite shot?’ I’m like, ‘Drop shot,’” she says, then adds, “But I use every shot, so every shot is my favorite.” The way she lists her shots sounds like a checklist she wants to keep improving. “My serve, my backhand, drop shots, overheads, volleys, and like everything,” she admits.
Photo courtesy of Maryna Hranchar.
Vlada’s on-court style is aggressive. “I attack the ball on the rise,” she says. “I take away time,” she says. “Because if I let it go, I will go back in the fence,” she says, and in her head moving back means danger on the court. “I’d hit a lob and then they just kill me,” she adds, showing how her instincts to always push forward.
The hard work is not limited to tennis. “With my mom I do fitness… I have to do fitness. I have to do workouts,” she continues, describing the routine as part of the plan, not a side hobby. Taekwondo fits because it builds on her workouts. “It’s for my balance,” she says. “I do it for fitness, too… to get flexible,” she adds, and then she sums up the larger belief that keeps her schedule full. “I just can’t play only tennis. I have to do other things too,” she says.
“I love pressure. I love expectation,” she says. “I think it’s a compliment for me.” Macci closes the conversation by circling back to balance, the thing he keeps returning to throughout the episode. “The most important thing is you’re a tennis player, but you’re a kid first,” he says, which is also the promise underneath the podcast itself: this is about a future, but it’s also about the day-to-day life that makes that future possible.
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Video credit: Rick Macci.
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Written by Assistant Editor Alex Binstok. Top photo courtesy of Maryna Hranchar.
