Serena and Venus Williams once told their childhood coach Rick Macci they were “brainwashed to become no.1.” Macci, who coached them from 1991, remembers Richard Williams using figures like Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Jennifer Capriati for motivation. Serena Williams has admitted to always looking up to Monica Seles, even modeling her grunt after her. But who did Venus truly admire?

Although Venus Williams’ bio lists legend Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, and Monica Seles as her favorite players growing up, Rick Macci recently added the seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe! But why him?

Venus Williams’ childhood coach in an X post said, “Asked at age 12 the happy go lucky naive VW who was her favorite player the Confident Compton Comet said MCENROE. When asked why she said I like his serve and fire. When asked if she could beat him Little VEE said for sure, 100% did you ever see his strokes!. @Venuseswilliams.”

Macci had trained the sisters diligently in their early days, but when he thought they had gotten better, he approached some of the renowned coaches to give them training. One among them was Paul Cohen, the legendary coach of John McEnroe and Pete Sampras. 

According to the author, Martin Baldridge, Cohen had admitted “I had never seen a six-year-old as strong as Serena and I’d never seen a potential woman champion as athletic and as graceful as Venus.” He had even asked his former students, Sampras and McEnroe, to watch Venus play in Brentwood. 

As per the writer, “Venus later got to hit with both pros and told reporters afterward that she felt she could have beaten McEnroe if the bounces had gone her way!” However, it wasn’t long before the Williams’ siblings became the “greatest story in the history of our sport” for the American legend.

During an interaction with Nick Kyrgios in his podcast, ‘Good Trouble’, McEnroe was seen discussing the inspiring stories of women’s tennis players. Emphasizing the Williams sisters, he had said, “You have the most unusual and greatest story in the history of our sport with the Williams sisters, two kids from the equivalent of Harlem, Compton, California. That father never played, looked at videos, and how to play tennis. You get to that, which would turn out to be Serena Williams and Venus Williams. What are the odds of that?“

Having a sibling who is on the same path of excellence in the same sport can be a boon or a bane at times! According to John McEnroe, despite having a comparatively smaller amount of success, Venus Williams has dealt with Serena Williams’ success pretty well. “I’m sure Venus is thinking about the same thing that Serena is, and she’s done a lot for Serena, in my book, supporting her and being with her because she was the one that was at the top and then the dad was saying, which you can’t forget, ‘I’ve got the younger sister’s gonna be even better’. If my younger brother blew by me, was better than me I don’t think I would have handled it as well as Venus has.”

Despite these kind words towards the Williams sisters, McEnroe has time and again put himself in troubled waters with his comments on these two in the past. 

Serena and Venus Williams hit back at John McEnroe for multiple criticisms 

In the 2002 French Open final, Serena Williams defeated Venus 7-5, 6-3 to win her second Grand Slam title. Shortly after, however, they were presented with comments from ATP star John McEnroe on the Today show from the previous day. McEnroe had claimed “any respectable male player – senior, college level, pro – could beat either of the Williams sisters.” Asked if he could beat them after the French Open final, he told the same show, “I would like to think so. Although as I start to age I am starting to wonder!”

Hearing this bizarre statement, Venus Williams said, “I just think that right now on the women’s tour, I am doing the best I can, and hopefully I will get another match against Serena. That’s what I am looking for next. We just never had an interest [in facing McEnroe].” Even Serena agreed on the same!

Then, in a previous interview, the ATP legend, John McEnroe, was seen accusing Serena and Venus Williams of lacking respect and humility. He said, “What they have achieved is great, but they have no respect for anyone in the game. Enough Is Enough. Would it kill them to say hello to people in the locker room?”

After hearing this, Serena Williams explained that she, along with her sister and their parents, have always preferred to stay close as a family, and it wasn’t about avoiding conversations with their peers, but rather maintaining a professional relationship. Even Venus Williams had then come up with a reply to McEnroe, saying,

“I believe that Serena and I are very polite. because that’s the way our parents taught us. I believe also that most of the time when Serena and I lose a match it’s because we beat ourselves, not because the other player beats us. I’ve been beaten about four times, and there was nothing I could do [but] wave the white flag. But most of the other times I’ve beaten myself through unforced errors.”

Another tennis legend, Martina Navratilova, stood beside the Williams sisters and said “Humility comes with age” and she mentioned that she had no issues with the Williams sisters’ attitude.

While speaking to the US radio station NPR, John McEnroe once made a bold claim about the 23-time Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams. He said, “If she played the men’s circuit, she’d be, like, 700 in the world.” 

In reply to this, Williams then came up with a tweet saying, “Dear John, I adore and respect you, but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based.” Now, the Williams sisters are among the celebrated tennis players on tour. Aren’t they?