Former Rick Macci Academy Trainee Harks Back to a 14-Year-Old Venus Williams Engaging in Fierce Competition With ‘Elite’ Elders

Richard Williams’ unique training regimes and methods played a major part in his daughter, Venus Williams‘ early rise to prominence and success in the tennis community. However, it also might not have been possible without the former world No. 1 player’s training sessions in the Rick Macci Academy which she joined during her teenage days.

During that period, the 7-time singles Grand Slam champion grasped various subtleties of the game while competing with trainees of high caliber. Speaking of the same, one of her fellow trainees, Brian Rosenthal, recently revealed how the American tennis icon used to play against boys who were like four years older than her.

Venus Williams played against elite-level trainees during her teenage days

The former Wimbledon champion previously embarked on her competitive tennis journey at the mere age of 14. During that period, Venus Williams was a part of the tennis academy established by the legendary American coach Rick Macci. One of her fellow trainees at the academy, Brian Rosenthal, recently featured in the Second Serve Podcast show in which he made a surprising revelation about the WTA legend.

He said, “I played with Serena a lot. I didn’t play with Venus as much. Venus is my age. So at that time, Venus was training with boys that were like four years older than her because she was capable of doing it. She was hanging in at 14 with some of the elite 18 year old boys at the academy. So I was her age and I wasn’t really put on her court at all.”

Rosenthal revealed that he didn’t get to play against the 5-time Wimbledon champion as they both were of the same age during that period. However, he did manage to get a chance to compete against her sister, Serena Williams, who was also there in the academy.

Serena Williams also used to compete against older boys

During the podcast, Rosenthal also brought to light Rick Macci’s training regime for the former tennis ace who was only a 12-year-old girl back then. He said, “With Serena, Serena was 12 and I was 14. So Serena, it was you know, that was the formula there was for Rick to get her on the court with some boys that were you know, about two or three years older and I happened to be one of them consistently.”

Rosenthal revealed how her former coach, Macci, used to put on her on the court against some older boys, including him.

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What do you think of Serena and Venus’ training regime at the academy? Let us know in the comments section.

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