FirstSportz exclusive: Rick Macci talks about Serena Williams, women’s tennis, and more
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Coco Gauff and Serena Williams
A FirstSportz exclusive with Serena and Venus Williams’ childhood coach, Rick Macci.
Question– What do you think about contemporary women’s tennis? Is it on a decline? Does it bother you?
It doesn’t bother me but it shows there are lots of differences. Barty was in there, then she said I’m out and retired. And now there’s a vacuum and Osaka is kinda in and out she’s won more than anybody. There are a lot of very good players but that’s different from people that are winning grand slams. A lot of people we talked about won 7-8 grand slams. It’ll be interesting if someone can start to dominate. Iga[Swiatek] might a little bit. Anybody who wins 35 matches in a row means something and it’d be still interesting if Barty would still be here, Osaka would be at her 100%, and Iga.
Those three would’ve started to build something. Right now, we’ve got to check every day who’s plugged in. It’s a very fluid situation with women’s tennis. I think it creates more excitement for others. But again, some people can’t even tell you who won Wimbledon or who won the French Open whereas before, it was pretty much household names. It’ll be interesting. Coco Gauff has a lot of ability. She has great foot speed, a great backhand, and some holes in her game that needed to be taken care of but at the end of the day, it’s one thing to kind of get there, it’s another thing to stay there. It’s the hardest thing to stay there and that’s another thing about Venus and Serena. They’ve been there since they were 17 years old.
Question– Three American girls- Danielle Collins, Jessica Pegula, and Coco Gauff are going in the right way. Do you think these three could lead female tennis in the next few years?
I think all three of them could be permanent fixtures in the Top 10. I think they could always be one of the better players. To dominate, I don’t know. If any of them could dominate, it’d be Coco because she has a little more firepower and she’s younger. There’s a little bit of a flaw in her forehand that hasn’t been corrected yet and as much as her serve is a weapon, it’s a liability too. I think all three of them will be in Top 10 and all of them could win a grand slam but a lot more has to go into it to dominate. Pegula can’t play through you- she’s not gonna throw you off the court. Collins has firepower but mentally, she can be in and out a little bit. So if I were to put money in it, it’d be Coco as the best potential to win multiple grand slams.
Rick Macci on Coco Gauff being compared to Serena Williams
Question– An 18-year-old Serena Williams as compared to an 18-year-old Coco Gauff. How do you see it?
There’s no comparison. The comparisons are- there are two African-American girls, they are both crazy fast, and they are highly competitive. They both have great serves, Serena’s better, same backhands, and Serena has a much much better forehand. Serena had more raw, physical power and Serena is like a Pitbull. She is one of the roughest, toughest, most brutal competitors the sport has ever seen. Everybody is competitive but this is different. So I think at the same age, there’s really no comparison other than some physical qualities. I think there’s more of a comparison with Venus- the first serve, dodgy forehand, long wing span, and long arms.
You can’t compare anyone to Serena and as I said here today, you’re not going to for a long time. This is a generational talent. She checked every box- speed, agility, strength, size, quickness, great mechanics, a brutal Compton street fight, and more importantly, once she got a hold of you, she won’t let go. Her parents, Orcene and Richards hit the genetic jackpot with both girls. I got 10000 people telling me, my kid’s better than Serena. I guess they’re all wrong now. They saw the video and everything on the outside. They didn’t lift up the hood and see what went underneath this Ferrari. Serena is just one of a kind. You have no idea! The whole package- there’s nothing there she couldn’t do as a physical athlete. I saw this at 9. If I don’t do this, we don’t change history.
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Lakshya Chopra
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