Maria Sholokhova’s story didn’t start with a racket in her hand. It began in her mother’s car on the way to gymnastics, where they would pass the same tennis courts every day.
After being told by Russian coaches she was “too tall” for gymnastics, Sholokhova begged her mom to put her in tennis. Eventually her mom relented. Now, 16 years and over 5,000 miles later, Sholokohva, with two Intercollegiate Tennis Association Championships under her belt, is leaving a historic mark on the Badgers’ tennis program.
Before becoming UW’s first tennis player to win the ITA Singles Championship and the university’s first partnership, with Lucie Urbanova, to win the doubles championship, Sholokhova dominated tennis back home in Russia.
Originally from Sochi, a large city sprawling with tennis courts and home to stars like Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Maria Sharapova, Sholokhova was drawn into the sport’s culture. She told The Daily Cardinal her dad was a huge part of her tennis journey.
“He was with me at every practice,” Sholokhova said. “He was driving me to the courts, trying to find players to hit with me. On the financial side of things, he was just trying to work as much as he can [because] tennis is very expensive.”
At 16, she moved to Moscow alone seeking bigger opportunities. Sholokhova spent months running her own drills and practices. And while dedication and resilience were never an issue, she said the costs associated with high-level tennis were barriers.
“It just got too hard, financially,” Sholokhova said. “I had no coach for [six to eight] months before coming to college, and I had to move back to Sochi.”
Sholokhova was a star for the Russian national team, winning over 30 Russian Tennis Federation titles. But she said the team stopped funding her training in 2022 after the war in Ukraine broke out, limiting progress in the sport in her home country.
Playing in the U.S. allowed Sholokhova to simultaneously pursue an education, an opportunity she did not have in Russia.
“We don’t have any university sports,” Sholokhova said. “You can’t really go to school and be a pro athlete. I [studied] online when I started thinking of coming to the U.S. for college [to avoid] eligibility problems.”
When a former teammate in Sochi and current Badger Alina Mukhortova reached out to Sholokhova, she jumped at the opportunity and arrived in Madison two days before the fall semester started.
While Sholokhova had experience with long work days and living alone, the transition to college in a foreign country brought new changes.
“I practiced every day back home, but mixing both tennis and athletics, I was just shocked by how stressed I was from day one,” Sholokhova said. “I was crying almost every other day my first semester, but I saw big improvements immediately [as I] got into a system.”
Between morning lifts, practices and a full day of classes and homework, Sholokhova said it was hard to find time for herself. When workloads did get overwhelming, she said UW Athletics offers student-athletes a variety of academic tutors and advisors. When she can, Sholokhova uses small moments to center her emotions, usually cross-stitching or on video calls with her mother. She also relied on her team to help bring her out of her shell.
“Tennis is such an individual sport,” Sholokhova said. “But coming to college it’s completely different. I really love every single girl on my team. Since I got here, they’re all so supportive.”
And while she doesn’t get to visit home often, she gets to keep a little piece of Russia with her on the courts. The Badger’s No. 2 singles player, Ekaterina Ivanova, helps Sholokhova keep the Russian spirit alive, becoming “a big emotional support” for Sholokhova.
Even when the coach who brought Sholokhova to Madison, Kelcey McKenna, stepped down to take up a head coaching position at SMU, Sholokhova knew staying with Wisconsin was the right choice.
Tennis, she told the Cardinal, is as mental as it is physical. “Major crashouts have happened in the past,” she said. “But I would just say I'm pretty disciplined. I just like to really hold myself accountable.”
Looking back on the moment she made history and became Wisconsin’s first ITA Singles Championship, Sholokhova said the moment was surreal.
“It took me a few weeks to realize how big of an achievement that was, because that was the first time I played the tournament,” Sholokhova said. The year prior, Sholokhova was knocked out in the first round of qualifiers, and two years prior, the first round of pre-qualifying.
“Maybe since I didn’t have any expectations, or, like, I wasn't putting any pressure on myself, I just played really well throughout that week,” Sholokhova said, “It just felt amazing, like all the work that I've been putting in throughout the years [paid off].”
Other parts of college life surprised Sholokhova in a different way. Her first Badger tailgate introduced Sholokhova to American football, and she said her first night at Camp Randall “felt like the movies.”
After graduating, Sholokhova knows exactly what she wants to do next. She said while receiving a college education was an important part of playing tennis in the United States, she said she’s hoping to obtain a P-1A visa to stay in the county and play tennis professionally.
“I don't really see myself working in the office,” she said. “I don't think I'll do [well] or be happy doing that right now.”
After moving overseas, attending a top-ranked university in a new place and years of playing high-level sports, Sholokhova would hardly change a thing about her journey.
“Maybe I would start thinking of college a little earlier, go on visits, but it wasn’t really possible,” Sholokhova said. “I feel like I’ve done everything I could.”
Iain Chang is a senior staff writer at The Daily Cardinal covering state news and politics.
