Yuliya Berberyan
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Yuliya Berberyan-Maleeva (; born 1940) is a
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
n former tennis player. She and her husband, Georgi Maleev, had three daughters, Manuela,
Katerina Katerina (Greek: Κατερίνα, ''Katerína''; Russian, Bulgarian and Macedonian: Катерина, ''Katerina'') is a feminine given name. It is a Greek variant of ''Ekaterini'' and a Russian and Bulgarian short form of ''Ekaterina'' or '' ...
, and Magdalena, who were coached by their mother and won 40 WTA singles tournaments combined.


Career

Berberian-Maleeva was born in Bulgaria in 1944 to parents of
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
n descent on her father's side. She started playing tennis and eventually won nine Bulgarian national singles titles as well as four
Balkans Games The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
titles. Despite restrictions on international travel due to the Bulgarian communist regime, she represented Bulgaria in the
1968 Federation Cup The 1968 Federation Cup was the sixth edition of what is now known as the Fed Cup. 23 nations participated in the tournament, which was held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 21–26 May. Australia defeated the Netherlands in the fina ...
. When her three daughters were growing up, she became their tennis coach with each of them starting when they were 6. This also included positioning them in strollers facing the courts to watch as she coached tennis. She coached her daughters despite poor availability of tennis courts, lack of suitable tennis shoes and only one wooden racket to practice with. They also encountered difficulties leaving to competed with the Bulgarian
USC CSKA Sofia CSKA () was a Bulgarian sports society from Sofia, Bulgaria. CSKA stands for Central Sports Club of the Army (). It was founded on 5 May 1948 as Septemvri pri CDV, after the unification of the two sports clubs from the city, Chavdar and Septe ...
telling her that they could not have
Bulgarian passport A Bulgarian passport () is an international travel document issued to nationals of Bulgaria, and may also serve as proof of Bulgarian citizenship. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of Bulgarian citi ...
s, though these were later provided. She would later criticise the Bulgarian Tennis Federation, claiming that they provided no support to the Berberian-Maleevas and accused the Federation of taking her daughters' tennis winnings in 1991. This statement was later amended in 2016 to state that Bulgarian Tennis Federation only took 10% of the winnings. Often they had to fund their own travel with assistance from Berberian-Maleeva's parents, whom lived in the United States as political refugees. Berberian-Maleeva's coaching lasted until 2007 when
Magdalena Maleeva Magdalena Georgieva Maleeva (, ; born 1 April 1975) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. Her best WTA singles ranking was world No. 4. She played on the WTA Tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to October 2005 ...
retired. As a result of her support and coaching of her daughters, Berberian-Maleeva was awarded the WTA Georgina Clark Mother Award in 2016.


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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berberian-Maleeva, Yulia 1940 births Bulgarian female tennis players Living people Bulgarian people of Armenian descent