Drive Helping Grossman Get Away from Ohio

No amount of time or level of commitment was too great for Ann Grossman to reach her goal.

All she wanted was to get away from there , from him .

Life growing up on a farm in Grove City, Ohio, was hard. Life with father was even tougher.

“My whole goal was to get out of Grove City,” she said. “There was no future for me there. I wanted to get out of there so bad, because my dad was so hard on me. I wanted to make it, to prove to him I can do this.”

Grossman defeated Jana Novotna, the 10th-ranked tennis player in the world, Thursday afternoon at the Mazda Tennis Classic. Dad would have been proud. But he wasn’t around to see it.

Fifteen months ago, Grossman’s father, her coach-for-life, died after a seven-month battle with cancer.

“It was a love-hate relationship,” Grossman said. “I love my dad so much and I miss him so much, but he (made her extremely angry). He drove me crazy.”

It was Bill Grossman’s goal for his youngest daughter to be a success. Donnie Young, Grossman’s coach for two years, said she was the only one who could please him.

“He was actually trying to play through her,” he said.

Young started working with Grossman when Ann’s father first took ill.

“That’s been the biggest battle of her career,” he said, “playing for her father. He brought her up technically good, but emotionally. . . .”

At a press briefing after her victory, Grossman, a finalist here in 1988, spoke freely of a parent who showed his love in a peculiar way.

“He brainwashed me in so many ways, kinda mentally abused me,” said Grossman, 21. “All tennis, not as a father. I was so hard on myself. Now, I’m trying to find my way back.”

Bill Grossman, a farmer, never played the game but read avidly and passed on the knowledge he derived from books.

“I couldn’t practice less than six hours a day,” she said. “Because that’s what he read in books. That’s how he learned. He’s really not to blame. It’s not his fault.”

Grossman started playing when she was 4 and would travel alone to junior tournaments approximately 12 times a year. Other juniors would compete in 25 or 30 tournaments a year, but the Grossmans couldn’t afford it.

“I’d call home from a tournament, just to hear, ‘It’s OK,’ ” she said. “He’d chew me out for an hour. I’d call home and get in more trouble.”

After his death, Grossman kept playing amid confusion.

The height of all that came in Hilton Head, S.C., five months ago.

“It was the biggest nightmare of my life,” she said. “I totally went down. I felt like I was 5 years old and I had no clue about life. I was so confused with my tennis and everything. I didn’t even know who I was and if I wanted to play tennis.

“I was going psycho, put it that was. It was the worst.”

Grossman said “I hate my dad” for the pressure he put her under, but she is in therapy and beginning to ease up on herself.

“I am still hard on myself, but I’m trying not to be, “ she said. “Even if you mess up, forgive yourself. I never forgave myself.

“Who cares if you made a bad shot and the crowd doesn’t think you’re playing well? Who cares? I always worried about other people. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the last two weeks.”

Grossman said there is a void left from her father’s death, but there is also relief.

“Maybe God made him go away so (I) could become the player (I) can be and not keep me down and not keep everything inside.”

Against Novotna, she let it all out, and she won, her way.