Venus Williams will retire when she is ready; she has nothing to prove, says Serena Williams' ex-coach Rick Macci
Venus Williams just wrapped her 30th season on the WTA Tour, and there are no signs that the 43-year-old is retiring from tennis anytime soon.
Venus Williams has quashed aside any talk of her retirement and signaled that she intends to continue playing in 2024. Rick Macci, the legendary tennis coach who shaped the future of Serena and Venus Williams, recently talked about his relationship with the elder Williams sister on the 'Match Point Canada' podcast.
Rick Macci took Venus and Serena under his wings in 1991 when they were ten and nine years old respectively. He continued to train them until 1995, when their father, Richard Williams, decided to become the sisters' full-time coach.
Macci lavished praises on Venus for continuing to play tennis when many are talking about impending retirement. While he acknowledged that when players in any sport cross a certain age, their skills and speed might diminish, in Venus' case, those are not the concern. She loves the sport, and everyone loves to watch Venus, Macci opined. He said:
"As you know any athlete when they get to the fourth quarter of the back nine, it's hard to hang it up. Football, baseball, hockey, you know, when your skills maybe diminish a little bit. But, it's their decision. You can't listen to say, you are not as quick as you were. Not as fast, whatever. That time will come. She loves to play. It's must-see TV. Everybody loves V. She is gonna do it when she wants to"
The 68-year-old remembered the American legend's greatest achievement, winning five Wimbledon titles, and recalled the prediction that he made in 1991 about her success on the grass of London. Macci used to train with Venus on grass every day to perfect her game. He added:
"And also at Wimbledon, she has grabbed five of them. You want to hear something crazy. I was at my office in 1991, I told Angela Buxon- "this little girl win five Wimbledon someday." Me and Venus used to practice two hours a day on grass to shorten the batswing, take it early, make a great volley spectacular, a good volley great, a bad volley good. So I did it as a development tool"
Macci further stated that many in the tennis world magnified Venus' losses than her successes. Moreover, he believes the seven Grand Slam singles winner has nothing to prove and she will retire on her terms. Macci said:
"But Venus beat what 14 in the world at Wimbledon. But she had such a bad loss at the US Open that it was magnified. You know what I am saying. She got beat bad. She'll do it when she is ready. But, she just loves to play, she just loves to be out there. I mean she has nothing to prove."
How has Venus Williams performed on the 2023 WTA Tour?
Venus Williams began the 2023 WTA Tour at the ASB Auckland Classic in New Zealand in January. As a wildcard, Williams faced fellow American Katie Volynets in the first round. In what was Williams' first win on tour since the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, she defeated Volynets, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Williams then took a break from the tour to nurse an injury and recover physically. She returned to tennis at the Libema Open in the Netherlands in June. However, her stay was shortened by Swiss youngster Celine Naef in the first round.
The former World No. 1's next win came at the Birmingham Classic, where she defeated then World No. 48 Camila Giorgi, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6), and sealed her first win over a top 50 opponent since 2019.
Venus Williams' next triumph was against an even higher-ranked opponent when she dispatched No.16 seed Veronika Kudermetova, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Western & Southern Open. This was her first top-20 win since 2019. The American ended her 2023 campaign at the US Open, where she exited in the opening round.