Julia Wakulenko was born on July 10, 1983. When she started her career, many thought she was a “wonderful child of tennis.” At most, however, it reached the 32nd place in WTA rankingwhich was primarily the result of seven winning ITF tournaments. At the age of 18, she broke her hand, which had to take a break from the court. As it turned out, it saved her.
“A wonderful child of tennis” confesses. She was molested by a trainer
Few people know that in the 1990s a Ukrainian trainer isolated her from the outside world. Not only that he forbade her to communicate with others, he even controlled her phone. “He broke me,” she said in an interview with “L'Equipe”. At the beginning of her career, when she was only 15 years old, Wakulenko won 16 out of 17 matches in a professional cycle. Thanks to this, she got a 'wild card' for Junior Roland Garros in 1999. The coach suggested that he would accompany her.
– In Paris he decided that we would share peace. And so it started – she confessed. “Once, he lay down next to me, stroked me, hugged me … he said that he loves me a lot, that I belonged to him and only thanks to him I would become the best,” she continued. Wakulenko reveals that the trainer used psychological pressure, insisting that he would subordinate to him even in sexual relations. He wanted to do “his own thing”. – It was a terrible suffering. You start hating yourself. You think: 'It's because I'm beautiful, it's my fault'. Everyday life becomes a nightmare – he reveals.
The coach, to have complete control over her, forced her to leave the Academy in Barcelona and moving to a private club. – I was alone with him all the time. He did not allow me to communicate with people, controlled my phone, checked all my messages. If he was dissatisfied, he did not talk to me or did not apply to work. It was a real manipulation – admits Wakulenko.
She was a tennis player, although she was looking for help, she was unable to find someone who would give her. Her mother was also manipulated. – He told her that he would take care of everything. My mother did not know this world, so she agreed to it. He organized flights, hotels …. – he explains. Only the broken hand really let her free. She interrupted training for two months, which allowed her to break contact with the trainer.
“I wanted to survive and just start a new life,” he explains. Wakulenko later suffered from depression or anorexia, but finally she managed to get out of it. Now she decided to reveal the whole story to warn everyone players. – We are not only athletes, but also people. Winning, but be broken for life – is it worth it? she asked rhetorically at the end.