Former Serena Williams coach Rick Macci: She can still compete with the best players in the world

The worst kept secret in tennis is out; Serena Williams makes her competitive comeback at Wimbledon.

Perhaps the most surprising element is that the 44-year-old, alongside playing doubles with older sister Venus, has taken the final SW19 wildcard to compete in the singles’ draw.

The seven-time champion’s first professional tennis coach was Rick Macci, who took a chance on Serena and Venus following strong insistence from their father, Richard.

Rick, who was portrayed by Jon Bernthal in the 2021 Hollywood feature ‘King Richard’, says he wasn’t surprised by Serena’s comeback.

Key highlights

• “She's going to smash all the TV ratings. This is must-see TV, because people are curious. It's not that she has anything to prove, but I think the curiosity factor is the biggest thing, and she's doing it because she wants to compete and she knows she can still win.”
• “I really think she's going to play the whole year, and there'll definitely be a GOAT sighting at the US Open in September. When she plays doubles with Venus, that in itself is must-see TV, they’ve won 14 Grand Slam doubles as a partnership.”
• “When you understand how competitive she is, it's a whole different discussion. I feel she could beat anybody anytime, anywhere, especially on grass.”
• “She's doing this for one reason and one reason only, she wants to win, she wants to compete. Her and Venus playing doubles together? They can beat anyone.”

Speaking the week before Wimbledon, Macci said:

“Her kids are a little older and she wants them to see her play and she wants to compete again. With that, you know that she's not doing this for a cameo. Then we heard that she started practicing with some WTA players up in West Palm, and has been training very hard I hear.

“You’re not going to go at it like that if you're just going for a one and done with a doubles appearance, and this is what I said back in February. I knew where this was going and I said she'll probably play doubles, and I said this all along, with Venus, and she’ll definitely play Wimbledon, because grass is her favorite surface.

“She has the best serve of any woman who's ever held a tennis racket. The points are quicker on grass. She ended up diving in, playing doubles with Mboko at Queen’s earlier in June, and she still has one of the best serves in the world, even at age 44, and she just wanted to test it out a little bit, but at 100%.

“She's going to smash all the TV ratings. This is must-see TV, because people are curious. It's not that she has anything to prove, but I think the curiosity factor is the biggest thing, and she's doing it because she wants to compete and she knows she can still win.

“I really think she's going to play the whole year, and there'll definitely be a GOAT sighting at the US Open in September. When she plays doubles with Venus, that in itself is must-see TV, they’ve won 14 Grand Slam doubles as a partnership.”

*Serena Williams prepares to return serve in a doubles match with sister Venus, back in 2013. Credit: Edwin Martinez/Wikimedia Commons

Serena Williams is widely regarded as the greatest female player of all time; breaking boundaries across two decades. Her last Wimbledon appearance came in 2022 where, for the second year running, she lost in the first round.

It’s been seven years since Williams won at Wimbledon, so what does Macci think her expectation will be this time?

“How dangerous can she be? Macci said.

“Even though she hasn't won a match in seven years at Wimbledon and she hasn't played that much, I have no doubt she can be competitive.

“She's wired differently. Remember, when you're talking about the greatest of all time, they're just wired different. When you understand how competitive she is, it's a whole different discussion. I feel she could beat anybody anytime, anywhere, especially on grass, because of two reasons.

“She can still hit a serve 122 miles an hour. Her slice serve to the deuce court is money in the bank. She has firepower off the ground, with clean, kind of hard, flat ground strokes, but the wild card with Serena is that she's a little bull; it's like a Compton street fight when she's out there.

“She's just the most competitive player I’ve seen. Everybody's competitive, but they're not great competitors.

“Whoever she draws, they're looking on the other side of the net against Serena Williams. That cuts a lot of people, and you know how fluid women's tennis is, it's so unpredictable.

“Now, will she win Wimbledon? No, because as the matches go on, if she wins a few matches, the physical part is going to come into play, and that's where this whole thing is a lot trickier.”

This year’s women’s tournament looks more competitive than ever. Aryna Sabalenka needs to comeback from a French Open meltdown, Iga Swiatek also disappointed in Paris, while Coco Gauff has never fully found her feet on a grass court.

Macci believes a former Wimbledon champion could claim her second Grand Slam of the year.

“I'm going with (Elena) Rybakina.

“I'm going to go with Rybakina because I think if her serve catches fire, she has the best serve in women's tennis. She has the firepower off the ground. She seems right now a little maybe more stable than Sabalenka, just based on what I’ve seen lately.

“That being said, as we've seen in women's tennis, it's like the tournament before has nothing to do with the next tournament. So it is unpredictable, but I'm going with Rybakina.”

Jannik Sinner is the overwhelming favourite in the men’s draw, despite a five-set meltdown in Paris, where the Italian struggled in hot conditions when two sets to love up.

Macci isn’t concerned about a man he refers to as ‘The Italian flamethrower’.

He said: “Remember, no one has hit the ball off the ground with so much firepower as Sinner has.

*Jannik Sinner prepares to hit a forehand in the 2025 US Open final. Macci has no concerns about the Italian’s fitness, especially with no Carlos Alcaraz to compete against at Wimbledon. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

“The game's very different with the technology and the strings, but no-one's hit the ball so consistently hard and held the baseline and taken the ball early where they can hit the ball 75 miles an hour off both sides maybe 8 or 10 times in a row. The sport has never seen that.

“To beat Sinner, someone needs to be able to chip it, dip it, flip it, and be able to volley; not to mention having a big serve. There are some guys that can do that, but can they do it in five sets? We'll see.

“Now, do I have any concern about what has happened to the Italian Flamethrower?

“Yes and no. On one hand, I think, and I'm not a doctor, but I think when you have light skin and you have red hair, you're going to be a little more subject to heat. I don't know, but I've seen this happen a little bit to him often enough, so that plays into the equation.

“Then again, he has played out some epic battles in heat, including against Alcaraz in the French. It's not that he hasn't proven himself before, so I'm not concerned at all.

“His game is tailor-made for grass. Well, really the best surface he's playing on is the one that he's playing on; he could win on anything.

“I think his toughest match is in the mirror. I don't see anybody that can beat him on grass unless they have a huge serve. They can chip the ball and drop it, you only need to remember last year that Grigor Dimitrov had him uncomfortable, and then he pulled out injured.

“It makes that type of game a little more unconventional because if you don't make him uncomfortable, he’ll simply just put you away.”

Macci also has some thoughts on the current crop of American players in the sport. Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe all have grass court form, and have been playing well at the likes of Halle, Queens and Eastbourne.

He explained: “All of them are hoping for one thing and one thing only; that they get on the other side of the draw from Sinner.

“Every match is winnable for all those guys, I mean, Paul's great on grass. All 4 of them can play on grass. The issue is winning three out of five sets, I'll say it again, it's a different sport.

“Remember, there's a lot of guys who will be seeded and they're very good players, but they're not that good on grass. It's like a different sport when you go from clay to grass. The movement is so different and the mental part is so different.

“They all can do some damage. One of them could get to the finals. I think the other side from Sinner, we're going to have a surprise get to the finals. It could be Alex Zverev, but listen, everybody is vulnerable. A lot of it also can depend on the weather; that comes into play too at this time of year.

“I think eventually they should change it to 2 out of 3 in the men’s Grand Slams.

“It's just so many injuries and so much physicality now. The sport's different than even 10 years ago, but that's a whole different discussion.

“But at the end of the day, this is Sinner's tournament to lose, and his toughest match is going to be against himself.”

Coco Gauff burst on the scene at Wimbledon exactly seven years ago; beating Venus Williams as a 15 year old.

A two-time Grand Slam winner, Gauff is yet to beat that fourth-round effort back in 2019, and grass does appear statistically her worst surface.

Macci has long-called for the 22-year-old to change her forehand technique, believing that it holds her back.

*Coco Gauff at the Miami Open in 2026. Will a modest forehand let her down again at Wimbledon? Credit: Rick Munroe, Wikimedia Commons

He explained: “First off, with Coco, it's not even close. She's the best athlete on the tour.

“Her serve can be deadly, but it's still kind of iffy. Even though they have a biomechanics guy involved, you still see a lot of double faults.

“Technically, I've seen a few things get a little better, but at the end of the day, there hasn't been any modification or adaptation to the forehand. I would do this very differently. I would have her hold the court, cut the court, take the ball early, go forward. All of this muscle memory has been baked in since being a kid.

“You have to chip the ball, which is okay if you have got a good chip like Mirra Andreeva. She should do pretty good on grass. She could be my other dark horse to win the tournament.

“With Gauff, with her foot speed, she should be amazing on grass, but the problem is she just doesn't get enough value on the forehand by going forward.

“The swing's too big, the backswing's too complicated. All that being said, when she does go forward, because the ball's not as hard, she fires. But the problem is when the balls come to you at 75 miles an hour 3 times in a row, she kind of has to lean back, because the swing's a little complicated.

“She's still young. I'm sure they've worked on it a lot, but I would do reconstructive surgery and change the whole thing in the offseason. But at the end of the day, that's a decision they have to make, but she has the heart of a champion.

“She's resilient and a great competitor. If she just had a different forehand that was authoritative and forward, I think she'd have 5 or 6 Grand Slams in her pocket already.”