Serena Williams' ex-coach gives strong verdict on Miami Open champ Aryna Sabalenka's key to success
Coach Rick Macci has brought his considerable tennis expertise to bear in analyzing Aryna Sabalenka's service action. Macci was an integral part of Venus and Serena Williams' early coaching alongside their father, Richard Williams. His role in their development was celebrated in the film King Richard, starring Will Smith.
Macci was watching on as Sabalenka destroyed her opposition in the Miami Open, taking the title without losing a set. She only lost 30 games throughout the entire tournament. It was a dominant performance after losing the Australian Open final to Madison Keys in January.
Macci, who is currently a consultant on the USTA Player Development Program in Boca Raton, Florida, identified Sabalenka's serve as her key weapon. Posting on his Instagram account, he suggested that her accuracy is unmatched:
"Bio mechanically one of the best pinpoint servers in women's tennis!!"
Macci is a USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) Master Professional and has been named USPTA coach of the year seven times. He's coached five number-one-ranked players, including Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick.
Aryna Sabalenka has vastly improved her serve since 2022
Aryna Sabalenka's serve was not always as dominant. Early in 2022, the Belarusian had a desperate case of the yips, which became so prevalent that she began serving underarm to get the ball over the net. At the 2022 Adelaide Open, she served 18 double faults against Kaja Juvan, yet still won; the 21 double faults she served up against Rebecca Peterson in the next round saw her exit the event.
The change came for Sabalenka when she employed the services of biomechanist Gavin McMillan. McMillan still works with Sabalenka and explained during an interview with Performance-Plus Tennis, as reported by ausopen.com, how he'd managed to re-engineer Sabalenka's key weapon:
“She had so many things wrong from the beginning, with her toss arm, what she was doing with her right arm."
As a result of McMillan's influence, Sabalenka went to the 2024 Australian Open with new confidence in her serve. She won the event, beating Zheng Qinwen in the final with 67% first serves and not a single double-fault. McMillan applauded her for having the courage to make the necessary changes:
“For her to serve [those numbers] in a Grand Slam final, from where she was, is really a testament to the guts it took for her to face it, and do the things on a day-to-day basis to try to change it."
For a coach of Macci's stature to give such a strong verdict about the World No. 1's serve, it shows how Sabalenka has made huge strides in developing that weapon. In the Miami Open final last week against Jessica Pegula, Sabalenka won 57% of her second serves, proving that her serve has now become a key weapon in keeping her at the top of the women's game.