Is American tennis in safe hands? Well, the rapid rise of Coco Gauff has now made the fans quite optimistic regarding the future of the racquet sport in the country. She’s just 20 years old and already, Gauff has become the leader of American women’s tennis! When everyone was wondering ‘Who will step up after the Williams sisters?’, Coco Gauff was busy putting in the hard yards to clinch her first Grand Slam title. In 2023, she became the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999. What does Williams’ former coach, Rick Macci have to say about this bright prospect in the American tennis world?

The 70-year-old renowned coach, Rick Macci is known for spotting talents and he has played a crucial role in shaping up the careers of several tennis players throughout the years. Recently, in a viral video clip on IG, Serena Williams’ former coach was seen sharing his thoughts on Coco Gauff. In that video clip on IG, posted by the ‘BillionDollarMind’, Macci was heard saying, “I have to mention Coco Gauff, the Olympic sprinter with a racquet in her hand. Her backbone is just as good as her backhand.“

However, speaking on the other aspects of her game, Rick Macci added, “Forehand is a little bit dodgy at times. Second serve is dodgy but she’s such a great competitor and what I love about Coco- she’s 20 years old! People think she’s been there for a long time, you know and she’s already top 3,4 in the world. So, she’s not going anywhere. She’s gonna be there for a long time.” However, this isn’t the first time that we’ve heard Macci sharing his thoughts about Gauff’s forehand and second serves!

In July this year, the renowned coach gave an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports. During that interview, he was heard saying, “Her forehand has always been a little suspect. If she had Federer’s forehand or Djokovic’s forehand, she’d be sitting here with five or six Grand Slams already because she’s so good in other areas.” Macci also highlighted that Coco Gauff’s severe grip and big swing make her forehand a liability for her overall game.

What does he think about her second serve, though? Well, in October, Macci emphasized that while Gauff’s serve was “biomechanically disconnected,” the problem could be solved with some minor adjustments. “Coco and her second serve can be fixed in less than 1 hour,” he said. Will we ever see Macci taking up the coaching role in Gauff’s team? Time will tell! Macci has seen Serena Williams very closely right from her childhood. What does he think about the comparisons that fans make about Gauff and Williams?

Rick Macci shares his thoughts on Coco Gauff getting compared with Serena Williams

During an interview with Tennis Infinity in December 2023, Rick Macci described Coco Gauff as the best athlete in women’s tennis. He said, “She is faster than fast, one of the best competitors, in my opinion, the best athlete on the women’s circuit. Will she win more Grand Slams? Absolutely.” Is she really fast, though? What does Coco Gauff think of this? Well, recently we saw the American star putting in some hard yards during her pre-season training session. Her strength and conditioning coach, Stephane Dal Soglio shared a few glimpses of those moments on his IG account. We even saw Gauff dropping in a hilarious comment under that post.

However, the thing that caught everyone’s eye, was seeing Coco Gauff doing bench presses, reverse crunches, sprinting, and even playing beach volleyball during the session! Fans were thrilled to see the intensity in her practice session. Did she enjoy it? Seemed so! However, didn’t look too pleased with her speed though.

Highlighting her 400m run she shared a video clip on her IG account and captioned it with, “Me finishing my last 400m😭you girl was tired. Been doubling up fitness sessions almost all week plus tennis practice every day loll. Today’s “I’m glad I didn’t choose track as my sport” workout was 4 sets of 500m, 3 sets of 800M, and 5 sets of 400m to finish it off (which was my fav).“

With this, Gauff has now raised serious question marks about Rick Macci’s “Olympic sprinter” claims! What does Macci think of the other claims, though? What are his thoughts on seeing people drawing a comparison with Coco Gauff and Serena Williams? Well, on this Macci once said, “When people say that she will be the next Serena, it seems like a leap too high. I don’t think we can get to something like that.” However, he hailed, Gauff as a “golden nugget,” in that same interview. What’s your take on this? Do you agree with Rick Macci?