"Never saw a sibling take care of the younger one like Venus Williams" - Ex-coach Rick Macci on Serena Williams' relationship with elder sister
Rick Macci recently revealed how older sister Venus Williams used to foster her younger sister Serena Williams during the practice session, back in the days when he was coaching the duo.
Macci is the first coach chosen by Richard Williams for his daughters. He played a vital role in the early development of the Williams sisters' tennis career during their formative years. The sisters started training with Macci in 1991 as the entire family had to move from California to West Palm Beach, Florida. However, Richard took full responsibility for training them in 1995.
The 69-year-old recently recapped his experience coaching the Williams sisters on social media. Recounting anecdotes from his days as the sisters' coach, he described how Serena had a strong bond with Venus. He further explained how Venus trained Serena after a one-sided contest.
"Never saw a sibling take care of the younger one ever like Vee. She would coach Meek after a brutal one sided practice set when she just got a tasty bagel and tell her do not worry Serena Your Time will come. BANG! TIME HEALS ALL." Said Macci.
"Serena was not really that good" - Rick Macci said about Serena Williams in an interview a few months ago
Even though Serena Williams is one of the greatest players of all time, her seasoned coach didn't think so when she was younger. A few months ago, he made the revelation about the 23-time Grand Slam champion during an interview on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.
"They both, we were literally brainwashed to become No. 1' and that maybe can work if you have the speed, the quickness and the right coaching but I never talked to either of them and we talked about this even when they were 10 and 11 and Serena was not really that good," said Macci.
"I have probably ten thousand parents see that video and say 'My kid is better than that', but they did not see what was under the hood and where this could go like coaches kinda project and I always would say 'Steffi would get that, Martina would get that, Capriati, that is not gonna work against her'. I was not talking about 12-year-olds, it was always the future and that is kinda how I build a player," Macci added.
Recently, Zendaya's romantic sports drama "Challengers" caught the attention of both sisters. Venus, though, was seen on the red carpet of Luca Guadagnino's creation.