“The first day, the first minute I started feeding her balls, I knew there was something special,” was Rick Macci’s initial opinion of Sofia Kenin. The coach who had mentored the likes of Venus and Serena Williams, and even Anna Kournikova, Andy Roddick, and Jennifer Capriati, saw something special in the Russian-born girl. The Kenin family had moved to the States soon after she was born, as if little Sofia was fated to play tennis for the Stars and Stripes.

Drawing inspiration from her dad, Alex Kenin, who played the sport recreationally, Sofia began playing at the age of 5. Her parents knew she had the potential for more and wanted her to train with Macci. The longtime coach was more than impressed by Kenin. “Back then [when Kenin was five], I came right out and said Sofia was the scariest little creature I’d ever seen.”

Macci has trained a number of kids who ended up in the highest echelons of the sport. But with Kenin, he says, “It was unique: the hand-eye coordination and her ability to take the ball immediately right after the bounce. I have a lot of kids do that, but it was almost like it was baked in already, even though she was little and the racket was actually bigger than her. The only player I’ve seen like that is [former world No. 1] Martina Hingis.”

Traveling from Pembroke Pines to Boca Raton, the Kenin family trusted Rick Macci to bring out the best in their daughter. “Rick helped us lay the foundation for Sofia’s game,” Alex told Babolat a few years ago. “Then I watched a lot of matches, studied how people played and took it from there.”

Soon after, South Florida had a rising star in tennis and even got featured in a video hitting groundstrokes. From being interviewed by Dave Kozlowski to playing a mixed doubles match with Jim Courier vs Venus Williams and Todd Martin, all before she was 10 years of age, Sofia was something special.

Per Macci, the young tennis player in the making, had an almost scary knowledge of the sport and didn’t let defeats stop her from coming back the next day. Comparing her competitive spirit to ‘Jordan, LeBron’, Macci told Forbes, “She was just a brutal, brutal competitor. Her thirst for competition was like no other. Everybody’s competitive, or they wouldn’t be doing a sport. But it was like Jordan, LeBron.”

Eventually, the coaching onus moved from Macci to Alex, who is still her full-time coach. By the time she was 12, Kenin was working with her father but Macci remains close to the family. Although it wasn’t a meteoric rise for Kenin on the WTA Tour, her childhood coach believed in her and wasn’t truly surprised when she took the 2020 Australian Open by storm.

“I expected it”: Rick Macci on Sofia Kenin at her first Grand Slam final

The 2020 Australian Open was a special one for American WTA. Sofia Kenin was the breakout star of the whole tournament, and hadn’t been able to go past the fourth round at any Grand Slam before. In the semi-final, she defeated home favorite Ash Barty and her childhood coach knew it was coming.

“She expected this,” Macci said. “I think (her father) expected it. I expected it. This doesn’t surprise me. She’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t win.”

Kenin would go on to play Garbine Muguruza in the finals and defeat her 4-6 6-2 6-2. She was 21. In doing so, Kenin joined only a few American women to win a Grand Slam in the last two decades in Sloane Stephens, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport and Venus and Serena Williams.

Now at the US Open, her majors journey continues!