Story highlights
Teliana Pereira grew up in a poor household in northeastern Brazil
First Brazilian woman to win a WTA title since 1988
Used her prize money to buy her mom a house
Competing in Rio 2016
With the colossal Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro, there will almost be a sense of the miraculous when Teliana Pereira steps out on the brand new courts at the Olympic Games.
Getting to the top of your sport is never easy, regardless of your circumstances.
But when your circumstances involve a struggle for basic essentials, the idea of a professional career in tennis could seem unlikely – especially as it costs an estimated $385,000 to turn pro.
The 28-year-old player, who last year became the first Brazilian woman to win a WTA title since 1988, was born in Pernambuco – a poor, rural state in the country’s northeast.
One of seven siblings, one of Pereira’s sister died as a baby due to dehydration. Sometimes, the family struggled to put food on the table.
Lucky break
“It was a really small house and we had to start to work [at] 4 years [old],” she told CNN’s Open Court.
“It’s really hard to grow up. We don’t have facilities. We don’t have schools. They don’t have money so it’s really complicated.”
Now the No. 1 female player in Brazil, Pereira’s future might have been very different indeed if her family hadn’t moved to Curitiba in the wealthier south, “just to have a better life.”
It was there that she finally started school – at the age of eight – and her father found a job as the custodian of a local tennis club.
While he made repairs and looked after the courts, Pereira was allowed to hang around and play – thanks to the support of the club’s French owner, Didier Rayon.
Turning point
By the age of 12, Pereira’s game was showing promise, and Rayon took her to France to watch a WTA tournament. It proved to be a pivotal moment.
“We went to France because I was playing well. So he [Rayon] said let’s go to France because you have to learn the good tennis. The good tennis in Europe.
“When I arrived there I was like ‘Oh my God.’ I saw Venus Williams play tennis and I was like, ‘I want to play like Venus.’
“He said, ‘OK, if you want to play like that you have to work hard. And then I decided I want to be a professional.”
Big fighter
Money continued to be an issue and it would take years of sacrifice and determination for Pereira to reach her dreams.
She relied upon help from Rayon, her mentor, and members of the tennis club to travel to international competitions. Once she reportedly went a day without food until money was wired to her.
“I’m a fighter. Not only in tennis. In life,” said Pereira.
“That’s why I love Rafa Nadal. I play more with the power, I run a lot. I fight every point, I just fight every point. It’s my big quality.”
Playing Serena
Step by step she climbed the rankings and, in 2013, Pereira became the first Brazilian woman to break into the top 100 since 1990.
Last year after scooping her first WTA title in Bogota and a second on home turf in Florianopolis, she soared to a ranking of 43.
“It was the first time my mum watched my match. She said, ‘I’m so proud of you, just enjoy this week’. I was crying a lot.”
At the second round of May’s French Open, she played against world no. 1 Serena Williams – 15 years on from the moment Venus inspired her to pursue professional tennis.
“Playing against Serena is something special…it was the best moment of my life,” said Pereira, who was defeated 6-2 6-1. “She said, ‘Good match’….I just tried to hit the ball. It’s not easy to play against Serena.”
Rio 2016
Though she has so far failed to reproduce last year’s form in 2016 – her ranking has tumbled to 94 – an Olympics on home soil presents her with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Whatever happens at Rio, her journey has been “unbelievable,” Brazilian sports journalist Joao Castelo-Branco told CNN.
“I think she deserves much more recognition. Tennis is a sport that requires money when you’re young. In Brazil the successful tennis players we’ve had they’ve all been from the rich cities in the south, like Gustavo Kuerten or Thomaz Bellucci Belucci, from middle class families.
“Teliana is a completely different example. She came from nowhere and overcame all these obstacles in a country that doesn’t really support this sport. To get to number one is really quite unbelievable.”
Pereira’s dream
The scale of her achievement isn’t lost on Pereira, either.
With her prize money so far totaling almost a million dollars, last year she realized a longstanding dream – to buy her mom a house.
“She was so happy and said you don’t have to do this. [I said] ‘Of course I have to do this because it’s my dream.’ We never had a house, we just rented.
“I’m proud of me because it’s not easy to play tennis like that and travel. When I was young I had no money and now I can play tennis here. Can you imagine?”