18 January 2013 | 11:33

Tennis: Maria Shishkina wears Kazakhstan colors at tournaments

Photo from Maria Shishkina facebook account

14-y.o. tennis professional Maria Shishkina takes part in ITF tournaments under the colors of Kazakhstan, Vesti.kz reports. The young tennis player was born in Kazakhstan, but when she was seven she moved to the United States, to Florida with her mother and later became a U.S. citizen. Moving to the U.S. was the only way for Shishkina to train in the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova and Nicole Vaidisova trained in the Academy over the past years. Tennis experts call Shishkina the “second Sharapova” and a “young star” in spite of her young age. As for Nick Bollettieri he said about her: "This girl is particular. This girl is a tigress. Remember her name. She has a perfect coordination, her concentration is the same. She has incredible blows from the right as well as from the left, they are, like lasers, strong and accurate and this all was the answer to the blows that an adult man sent to her. The game by the net is also impressive. She has the fastest and the most dexterous legs since the time of Tracy Austin. This child is unbelievable, the best player of her age that I’ve ever seen. And even more!” Shishkina, who is playing in one of American ITF tournaments, has reached the second round of the qualification by winning Slovakia’s Martina Frontova with the score of 6:2, 6:2.

14-y.o. tennis professional Maria Shishkina takes part in ITF tournaments under the colors of Kazakhstan, Vesti.kz reports. The young tennis player was born in Kazakhstan, but when she was seven she moved to the United States, to Florida with her mother and later became a U.S. citizen. Moving to the U.S. was the only way for Shishkina to train in the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova and Nicole Vaidisova trained in the Academy over the past years. Tennis experts call Shishkina the “second Sharapova” and a “young star” in spite of her young age. As for Nick Bollettieri he said about her: "This girl is particular. This girl is a tigress. Remember her name. She has a perfect coordination, her concentration is the same. She has incredible blows from the right as well as from the left, they are, like lasers, strong and accurate and this all was the answer to the blows that an adult man sent to her. The game by the net is also impressive. She has the fastest and the most dexterous legs since the time of Tracy Austin. This child is unbelievable, the best player of her age that I’ve ever seen. And even more!” Shishkina, who is playing in one of American ITF tournaments, has reached the second round of the qualification by winning Slovakia’s Martina Frontova with the score of 6:2, 6:2.

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