Rick Macci is a significant name in the world of tennis and throughout his career he had the opportunity to coach Serena and Venus Williams, being an important figure in their development.
The Williams sisters are probably one of the most inspiring stories in the world of tennis and the reason why many girls picked up rackets. The successes they achieved, many can only imagine, and some of it would not have been possible if they had not had the right mentors throughout their careers.
Rick Macci is still very active in the world of tennis and enjoys following young tennis players who have serious potential to build great careers. In an interview with the media, the famous coach pointed out that he has been training nine-year-old Ukrainian Vlada Hranchar for two years, believing that she has the potential to become one of the best in the world.
He revealed this in an interview with Florida Tennis.
“As you could imagine, I get 10s of thousands of videos, especially after people saw the movie King Richard, ‘I’ve got the next Venus [Williams], I’ve got the next Serena [Williams]’. I get that all the time,” he said.
“I got a call from a good friend of mine, Peter Bodo, senior writer at Tennis.com, he says, Rick, there’s a little girl up here, Vermont, New York area, that got out of Ukraine, you should take a look.
“I’ve seen that movie before!
“I said, Peter, just send me a video. So he sent me a video, I saw some speed and quickness, the racket was bigger than her! She was only seven, like 60 pounds, 4ft, 4, I don’t know. I said, listen, if they want to come to Florida, I can take the temperature and check her out. That’s what I say with most kids.”
Details
71-year-old Rick Macci has revealed that he keeps receiving various messages from people involved in the world of tennis. At the invitation of his good friend Peter Bodo, Macci decided to watch the young Ukrainian girl who fled the war.
The experienced coach stressed that the girl came with her parents on Saturday, while he was already on the court training a twelve-year-old boy. That was when he first noticed the mother and her height of 1.73 meters, which is one of the ways Macci assesses talent.
After just five minutes, according to him, he saw something that he had not seen before in either Venus or Serena Williams – the girl was connected to the ball and showed the necessary passion.
However, Macci warns that this does not necessarily mean that she will develop a great career and become the best, but even at the age of seven he could see enormous potential.
Macci revealed that he signed a 20-year contract with the young Ukrainian girl, believing that this was a great opportunity for both him and her, and that he would also represent her.
The coach points out that if the girl does not succeed in becoming number 1 in the world, he believes that he has not done his job properly.
It is clear that the public will follow this young Ukrainian, and whether this will represent pressure and a potential barrier in her career remains to be seen. Macci is known as a coach who knows how to work with young talents and recognize their potential.
