“Something Breathtaking”: Venus and Serena Williams’ Childhood Coach Shares an Amazing Story

‘King Richard’ made its debut on the silver screen on 19th November 2021. The movie tells the story of Richard Williams, Venus and Serena Williams’ father, who transformed his daughters into two of the greatest tennis players of all time. Another pivotal character is Rick Macci, the coach of the siblings when they were young.

Recently, Macci shared footage from 1992, where he stated that these young girls would play a Grand Slam final one day. Moreover, Macci believed in Venus and Serena from a very young age, as their talent was clear to see.

Former coach had faith in Venus and Serena Williams

Rick Macci played a key role in the development of Venus and Serena Williams. The American coached the Williams sisters at a young age, laying the foundations for them to become two of the greatest tennis players of all time. Just after the release of ‘King Richard’, Macci took to Twitter to share exclusive footage from 1992.

The caption read, “Footage from 1992 I could see it. I could feel it and I believed I was on a mission to help build something the world of tennis has never seen before. Something breathtaking that would transcend the sport of women’s tennis forever!”

In the video, Macci talked about how these girls would be competing at the highest level one day. “I think the day will come that both kids might play each other in the finals of a Grand Slam,” he said.

Speaking on Serena and Venus, he stated, “Both girls are unbelievably competitive, and when you see them play, you can’t really pick up on that. You have to see them in a competitive situation… Venus is a great ball striker, she’s very aggressive… Serena is the best athlete that I’ve ever had at this academy. She’s very natural.”

Venus and Serena’s Grand Slam meetings

Macci’s prediction when Venus and Serena were young turned out to be prophetic. The siblings have faced each other 31 times on the Tour, so far. Serena edges the battles with 19 wins as compared to Venus’ 12.

Nine of those meetings have been in Grand Slam finals. It’s an absurd statistic that on nine separate occasions, the best two players at a Grand Slam event were the siblings. It truly highlights the dominance that they have enjoyed on the court.

They also faced each other in four consecutive Grand Slam finals, from the 2002 French Open to the 2003 Australian Open.

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