The first time Gabby Price had a tennis ball lobbed in her direction, she mustered all the strength a 4-year-old possibly could and sent the ball screaming back.
The ball made a beeline right at the head of Gabby's father, Marc, a former Penn State tennis player who hoped the game would be a way to connect with his daughter.
Marc promised himself that he wouldn't pressure her. If she gravitated toward tennis, fine. But if not, if she struggled to move on the court the way she needed to or if she didn't enjoy playing, that would OK, too.
But in that moment, in that one furious, undisciplined stroke of his daughter's tennis racquet, Price got his answer.
This kid was going to be special.
"I'll be honest -- I knew from Day 1, she had it," Marc Price says now, five years later.
Gabby Price is now 9.
She stands 4-foot-5 and weighs 67 pounds.
Barely able to clear the net with her line of vision, Gabby is much more disciplined than she was when she started playing. She has spent the better part of the past five years studying under Rick Macci, whose pupils have included Venus and Serena Williams, Jennifer Capriati and Andy Roddick.
But much like the father, Macci sees the potential for greatness in Gabby.
Even now at 9, even at 4-foot-5 and 67 pounds.
Even now when she can barely see over the net.
There's just something about her first step. About her quickness. About the way that she competes that makes Macci believe Gabby has the X Factor other players her age lack.
Read More/Source: 9-Year-Old Tennis Sensation
No comments:
Post a Comment