From skinny kid to Wimbledon finalist, Sharapova has practised to perfection

When i first set eyes on Maria Sharapova she was just a skinny little kid. If she turned sideways you could barely see her. But I knew there was a determination within, which was extraordinary for such a little child.

When i first set eyes on Maria Sharapova she was just a skinny little kid. If she turned sideways you could barely see her. But I knew there was a determination within, which was extraordinary for such a little child.

She began her journey through our system at the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy that I started in 1978, one of 175 students who are with us at any time, aged five right up to full-time pros.

The kids have their individual training routines, with a typical day being practice then schoolwork then practice, then rest. Next day, same thing. They have social opportunities - movies, shopping, all the usual - but even from a young age the tennis was Maria's focus.

What focus. She arrived speaking no English. She learnt in four months. I probably knew she had the potential to be an exceptional player by the age of 10. I recall her having such focus and battling instincts even then.

By 12 or 13, she was mentally years ahead of every student her age. The way she arrived at the practice court and was already telling us where she needed to improve was amazing.

Her father can take credit for that assurance within her. If he'd been building a car he'd have taken advice from BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, and built the best of the best. He knew little about tennis at the start but he let us do our job and he learnt from it and was always there encouraging Maria to make the most of her opportunities.

Nothing should be taken from her own drive and desire. I recall sessions when she was as young as 14 or 15 when she wanted perfection and would not stop until she had it.

I've got a good friend who's a fighter pilot in the American navy. He flies F-18s, and when they learn a new manoeuvre they do it over and over again until it's inch perfect. Maria is like a fighter pilot in practice. Over and over, one thing at a time until she has it right. It might be her cross-court forehand. It might be her serve. She'll stay out there as long as it takes to get it right, for hours and hours on end.

That takes mental toughness, but then she's tougher mentally than probably any girl on the tour. She has incredible natural talent. She has mental toughness way beyond her 17 years. She has an amazing mentor in her father, Yuri, who has done everything in his power to help his little girl become the No1 player in the world. But make no mistake. Sharapova was made at the academy.

We have produced and nurtured many champion tennis players, such as Andre Agassi, who I had the privilege to be coaching when he won Wimbledon in 1992. The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, have come to work with us on many occasions. At one stage we had three future world No1s - Agassi, Jim Courier and Monica Seles - training with us at the same time.

But whereas Andre first arrived aged about 13, Courier at 14, and Venus and Serena when they were 10 or 11, Sharapova was already a full-time student at the age of eight. She is a true product of our system and hers is an amazing story. Yuri scraped and saved so he could make the journey from Siberia to America. He wanted the best tennis education in the world and he picked the right place. We knew about Maria because IMG have spies all over the world to tell us about players.

We knew about Maria when she was seven or younger. Normally with kids that young they come and work for a few weeks only. We assess them. Maybe later they come back for a month or two and then later enroll as boarding students. Maria was good enough, special enough, to be with us full-time by eight.

People often ask what she's like as a person, because there's something of an impression that she's this ice maiden. She does have ice in her veins. She's one heck of a steely player. But she's also a friendly, sociable person, with an air about herself of confidence in all situations.

When she was little, she was something of a loner. Many supreme athletes have that tendency. But don't fall for the perception that she's still a loner, or without any other interests in life. She picks her friends carefully, that's all.

One of her best friends is a girl of about the same age called Jessica Fisher. Jessica's from New York but lives locally to the academy in Florida and does a bit of training with us. She's a regular girl, very sweet, not involved in the tennis tour. Maybe that's why Maria is friends with her. Maria wouldn't want to be friends with someone she then has to go out and beat on court. And she wants to beat everyone.

Her on-court attitude - screams included - show you that. To dispel a myth, we never, never instruct anyone to grunt or yell when they hit the ball. With Maria it's part of her make-up. She's the real deal.