Former Coach Rick Macci Opens up on Serena Williams’ Hunt for Record 24th Grand Slam

American tennis player Serena Williams has been on the Tour for a considerable period. For over the last two decades, she has dominated the Tour in an unprecedented manner.

Rick Macci coached Serena when she initially began training. Recently, the American coach spoke to EssentiallySports journalist Mahalakshmi Murali in an exclusive interview about the chances of the 40-year-old player winning her 24th Grand Slam title. He felt that as the champion gets older, things will come across as slightly tough as compared to the previous years.

The 67-year-old spoke to EssentiallySports and stated, “Yeah you know obviously it gets tougher as you get older. The fear factor from other players is going to be there and maybe even the confidence level from Serena, I call her meek okay might not be but what it is but once she starts winning a few matches I’m just telling you, you never count out the heart of a champion.”

Serena Williams needs to gain confidence early in 2022 

Sign up to Break Point

Get quick-hit tennis updates, underdog stories, and Grand Slam highlights right in your inbox.

Macci feels that if Williams begins her 2022 season on a positive note, winning a few matches and gaining the confidence after being on the sidelines for a while, it would be a positive sign. He knows Serena well enough and mentioned that he would never ever bet against the multi-Grand Slam champion.

The coach added, “She’s a very special lady you know, and yeah I would not bet against her about anything but I think it’s all her playing more and getting a little more confidence and obviously being super fit because with serve as long as she’s hitting corners and if that confidence is there she’ll take it earlier, she’ll take more chances, she’ll be inside the baseline.”

Read more: ATP’s Latest Announcement Drops Major Hint on Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open 2022 Participation

She needs to focus on her strengths 

The experience of Serena is higher than most of the players on the Tour. The coach, Rick Macci, feels that if she gets within the baseline, she would be able to execute her game better. Rick looks forward to seeing the 23-time Grand Slam champion go the distance in the coming future.

The Ohio born coach added, “Because she can just play through you but there’s a lot of things that have to go right but I would never ever bet against Serena because that championship DNA if she gets on a roll other than herself no one would like to see her do that more often than Ricky.”

Coming to tennis, Williams has not been featured since the Wimbledon Championships exit. Although, she has attended quite a few non-sporting events. We hope to see her come back on the Tour and compete for the biggest prizes in the game. 

Watch this story: The Journey of Roger Federer to the Elite Billionaire’s Club