Straight Outta Marco?

It’s impossible to watch Rustam Zaripov and his grade school daughters at the City of Marco Island Racquet Center without thinking of the story of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams and their father, Richard, who made Compton, California famous. The similarities are not lost on Zaripov and his daughters, Rushana, 10, and Regina, eight.

Zaripov is not shy about stating his wishes for his determined daughters.

"I want them to be world champions and Olympic champions,” Rustam Zaripov said confidently. "And, you know, the number one tennis players in the world. That's what I want them to do. I saw the Williams sisters. And their age is similar. And I was looking at their games, and I said, 'I have two girls. They’re going to look the same. I want them to be like Serena and Venus Williams.' And I hope so. You know I'm trying.”

Zaripov is still in his work clothes, feeding tennis balls to his daughters, when someone compares Rustam and his girls to the Williams Sisters and their father. 

“Everybody says that,” Zaripov answers with a beaming smile. "They are 15 months apart, Serena and Venus. Venus is 1980. June 17. I know. I learned everything about them. And Serena, she is 1981, September 26. And their father, Richard Williams, is 81 years old. And he was born on February 14, 1942. My girls are 20 months apart. Yeah, it's pretty close."

Zaripov’s big, friendly smile is disarming. Looking at Zaripov, you can tell he’s one tough dude. Sure enough, he has a background in boxing and kickboxing.

“Yeah,” Zaripov said, "that's why physically, I can teach them very well. They're going to have good technique, too. We work hard every day, you know, doing training with them."

Every weekday, starting at 4:30, Zaripov puts his girls through their paces on the tennis court. He feeds balls to their forehand and backhand sides. He has them square off in singles. They spend two and a half hours a day playing tennis. There’s a reason for that.

“Sometimes a tennis match can last two and a half hours,” Zaripov reasons. "You don’t want to get beat because you’re tired."

Rustam and his wife, Nargiza, moved to the United States from Uzbekistan. They moved to Marco Island from Michigan 11 years ago. When they arrived in the country, neither of them could speak English.

We started learning English,” Rustam Zaripov said. "We were learning like 100 words every day. I was learning. She was learning.”

"If you come into a country,” Nargiza Zaripova said, "you have to speak that language. If you choose to live there, you have to respect everything. Rules, language."

Rustam and Nargiza were looking for warmer weather when they decided to move to Marco Island.

"I was searching for a place where we can raise our kids,” Nargiza Zaripova said, "So that's how we ended up on Marco. Marco is very safe. A nice place, especially, to raise kids. Once we were here, we decided to have our kids. Then we got these two beautiful girls and they love Marco, too. It's really nice and quiet here. Peaceful."

Rustam Zaripov is a hard worker on and off of the tennis court. As an engineer at the JW Marriott, he was determined to pay off the family home after moving to Marco. He was routinely working 80 hours a week.

"I used to work very hard,” he said. “Too much. I was working day and night, night and day. I was only sleeping two to three hours a day.”

Then his oldest daughter, Rushana, nine at the time, made a plea to her father.

“In December of 2021,” Rustam said, "my oldest came to me, she said, 'Daddy, how much are you working? How much are you making per hour?' I said, ‘Why?’  She said, 'I want to know because when I grow up, I can pay you that. So you can stay with us on Saturday and Sunday.' I said, ‘Okay, I will, I can.’ That was in December. I was already packed with work. I said, 'Starting January 1, I will promise you I'm not going to work any Saturdays or Sundays. I will stay with you.' I was crying. I said, 'The money is not important. My family is more important and I am spending more time with them right now.'”

In addition to tennis, Rushana and Regina jump rope, run agility drills, and do push ups during their daily tennis sessions. After that, they run three miles around the lake at Mackle Park. They ride bicycles, too.

Are the girls buying into the program? Do they ever say they don’t want to do it? Quite the contrary.

“Never,” Rustam Zaripov said. “Never do they say, 'But, Daddy, I don't want to do it.' You know, they always try. They never argue. They're always good listeners. Even at school, I tell them never fight, always be good with your education, in your math. Be good with your friends. In my house, we don't use any bad words. Right now, Regina has a school project asking what she wants to be when she grows up. She told her teacher, 'I want to be a tennis player, and I want to be like the Williams sisters.’"

 Rustam Zaripov emphasizes that he’s not doing it alone.

 “Usually,” he said, "from Monday to Friday, I'm teaching them myself. On Saturday and Sunday it's my friend Norman Charles. He's a pro and he never charges me. He just wants to help me, you know, with my goals because we became very good friends. Norman started teaching me, teaching them. Now their tactics are totally different.”

His wife looks after the girls’ nutrition.

“We always eat healthy food,” she said. "I'm buying organic food. I'm trying to give them nice stuff all the time. Fruits since they were born. We didn't buy any baby food from the store. I was picking fresh, organic stuff. Never give them any canned food or anything like that."

Rustam Zaripov is also thankful for the free play hours offered at the Racquet Center.

 "I'm glad we have this court,” he said. "if not, I cannot afford the charges here. We have a plan. And it's good. I have good motivation because I was a sportsman. I know training. I know how to put them to their level. That's what I'm trying to do. That's my wish. I hope they're going to be like the Williams sisters.

"If they win something, it's going to be for Marco. If they become champions, they will say they are from Marco Island. I love that they were born on Marco Island, Florida. "