Morgan Stanley

Pam Shriver’s coaching philosophy for player Donna Vekic? Unleash the grit, ignite her passion and conquer the court together as this dynamic duo strives for excellence on the WTA circuit.

I tried a bunch of different sports as a kid. I originally started in dance. I tried soccer, swimming, but what really drew me most to tennis was the individual nature of the sport and being able to problem solve. Every time you play a point in tennis, it’s something a little bit different and having that variety was so key for me.

My mom was a preschool teacher for over 30 years. She recently retired, which has been super exciting for our family. My father is 85 years old. He has a landscaping business and he is still working, mowing lawns and chopping down trees. He is amazing in so many ways. Growing up with two parents that were so hard working and living paycheck to paycheck, I think definitely helped spark an interest in financial literacy and accounting properly.

At 18 years old, I had $0 in my name. I didn’t come from financial opportunity and knowing that, I really felt like the best way to set myself up for success was going to college. Having the opportunity to go to a school like University of Virginia and have a full scholarship was everything to me.  It set me up for so much success on and off the court, allowed me to evolve and grow so much more as a person, but also as an athlete. It gave me the time to physically develop, mentally develop, which was really important because quite frankly, if I had turned pro at the young age of 16, 17 years old, I was not in a place from a maturity standpoint to be able to have the career that I would have wanted to have.

Playing professional tennis is a full time job and requires so much mental work, physical work, recovery and our days are totally consumed sometimes by what we do as professionals and then all of a sudden going from having basically $0 to high six figures, I needed to start taking the time to really educate and inform myself and you only get that with time.

So I used to babysit regularly and save up my babysitting money and lesson money that I would teach some adults and some young kids on the weekends and I would put that money aside and then get myself on an Amtrak or Greyhound bus and get to some of those tournaments. I’m getting to live my dream doing this and I think my parents are so, so proud of me and they’ve just been counting their blessings that this has been able to work out for me, the way that it has. 

When I won the US Open, he was like, this is the American dream. Like I came to America and my granddaughter won the US Open.  Even getting the check, he was like wow that's a lot of money we need to save that and I was like yes grandpa we’re going to save it.  

I first started playing tennis when I was nine and I lived across the street from a club. When I first started taking lessons, I started taking lessons with the guy that was literally the most fun coach I've ever had in my whole life and I think for kids like the first experience is always the best experience one that keeps them coming back and that I think is kind of what still keeps me playing tennis today.   

My grandma when he came to America, his goal, his dream was to be a doctor and I think seeing how hard he had to work to provide the life for like my mom and my aunts and uncles like he was always very committed to that and I think seeing the hard work that he put in he worked until he was 70 and he delivered 40,000 babies.  I want to love my work as much as he loved his work right and I think that inspires you to do more and do better and like it was amazing,  

From the time I was 10 years old playing my first tournament, my grandparents my mom my brother like when I was 10 we drove to San Francisco and like three weekends in a row we went to go play tournament, my grandparents were always a part of that and I think being able to be a part of like my life journey not only with my tennis journey was really important for me just because I had that sense of grounding and I always knew that they were there and like even if I won or lost, it literally, they didn't care.  Like, you know, they were always just supportive, and I was the only person in my family who had a professional career who didn't have a college degree.   

Education has always been number one before sports and getting my degree and then my master’s degree was really important to me right and then to be able to show my grandparents like okay, I got my master’s degree, it was like yeah everyone's happy, like it was a great thing.  

Even if I stopped playing tennis at 25 or 30 whatever it is like I always knew where I wanted to be and where I wanted to go and I think that's just my grandparents instilled that in my mom and my mom was like okay like this is what I did this is what you need to do. 

I know at some point tennis will be over, right and then I have like 60 more years to live maybe hopefully 70 more years to live knowing that I was like I need to be set for this time I need to saw.  I'm very meticulous and knowing and seeing like okay in 10 years I'll have this amount of money I can only spend this amount of money in the year so if you have five kids Sloane like they're going to cost this amount each and then you need to have that money and you're going to need to be able to support them. 

I've always been someone who loves to give back I love kids and I think that they’re like God’s greatest gift, like I really do believe that kids are like the foundation like of our world and I think they you can change a kid’s life by just being present and being there and I think tennis has been my vehicle and has given me so much in life and why not let someone else experience that.  

So, Sloane Stephen’s Foundation is based in Compton, California.  We service all of Compton unified school districts.  We service about 10,000 kids a year; kids would normally never play tennis or ever pick a racket because it’s not cool and it’s kind of expensive.  So, all of those kids played middle school tennis, recess tennis, after school tennis and Saturday tennis.  So, all of our program is completely free, even if it's like that's 25 minute thing they're getting to experience tennis in some way shape or form during the school year.  Making sure that they're actually going to school and completing their work and excited about going to tennis after that for myself and my mom and everyone of the foundation that's a success story to us right being able to get them to a place where they enjoy competing and they're actually in the tournaments making it and making it to state championship and then graduating and then going to college, like that for us, is like is huge.

Education to me is very important. I mean, it’s the key. I mean, at the end of the day we’re professional tennis players, but it’s not enough. And it’s something that I really like struggled in the past. Like I want to be more than a tennis player, I want to know more, I want to do more.

I started playing tennis when I was seven years old. I felt it was quite easy for me, you know? So then I realized that, well, I think I’m good at this. So since then, I haven’t even, I didn’t even try the other sports. I just like went straight to tennis and it was like love at first sight. I have always been very aware, I know how tough it is to be a professional tennis player and how expensive it is, you know, and it’s not for everyone.

And I come from a very humble family. I’ve always have been very independent, so I never wanted them to help me. So, when I was 15 already, I started like to deal with my own financial part and start to learn from it as well. Of course, I was struggling with expenses and everything, but I was doing it by my own. Because I didn’t want them to carry that weight on their shoulders. That first year until I broke into the top hundred, I was stressed and worried about it because I was doing it by myself.

My younger sister, she’s 15 years old. Her name is Jana. We have a ten-year difference, so I always felt that of course I’m her older sister, but as I say, at the same time, I always felt like I had to like be her like second mom and I protect her so much. Especially the role I’m playing right now with her, it’s financially, I’m helping her. And her dream was always to come here to US to study, to learn English. Her maturity is like growing so fast thanks to that, so I’m very proud of her. She’s the most important person in my life. So, she knows that I would do anything for her, and I just want her to have an opportunity to do whatever she wants or her dream. I had my opportunity to make my dream come true, so I just want that for her.

Badosa’s sister (in Spanish): Hi, how are you? I’m here because I want to thank you for everything you do for me and always have done. For example, supporting me with the decision to go to the United States, which was one of my dreams. And I really appreciate how much you’ve done.

I wasn’t expecting this. Oh, that’s amazing.