Serena Williams’ former coach Rick Macci has offered to take charge of Emma Raducanu’s fledgling career in a bid to help the Brit become “bulletproof” ahead of her return in 2024. Raducanu has been out of action since April after undergoing double wrist surgery as well as an operation on her ankle and she’s slowly made her return to training on the tennis court.
But the 21-year-old is still looking for a new coach after splitting with Sebastian Sachs in June. She’s now searching for her sixth coach in two years and recently admitted that part of the reason for the high turnover is because they “haven’t been able to keep up with the questions” she’s been asking.
Prior to undergoing surgery earlier this year, Raducanu had found it tough to build on the success of winning the US Open back in 2021 as an 18-year-old qualifier. There have been many teenage prodigies in tennis who have struggled to emulate that kind of success later on in their careers.
Serena Williams remains one of the youngest players to ever win a major after triumphing at the 1999 US Open at the age of 17. Macci helped mould both Williams sisters in their early years between 1991 and 1994 and still continues to shape the future stars of tennis at his tennis academy in Florida.
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And the 68-year-old has admitted he’s reached out to Raducanu’s team to join the coaching list and believes the Briton can follow the same path as Carlos Alcaraz. “I spoke to her agent, but he said her parents deal with coaching appointments,” he told the Telegraph.
“I’m not a travel coach, people come to me. I can help her mentally and strategically like no other. I don’t know where her head is at, whether there is the hunger and belief there to be the best.
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“If you look at Carlos Alcaraz, everything changed for him with success at an early age, but he was ready and loaded. I don’t know Emma or what’s in her head, but you don’t lose talent and ability. Yes, you might lose a little confidence and fitness, but technically she’s very good – you don’t win a Grand Slam otherwise. If she really wants to be one of the best in the world – and she has the ability – then you need to cope with the pressure that comes with that.
“She should want pressure. You do all this training to be a professional player and want to be the best in the world. She has to be able to deal with what comes with that. She must be prepared to deal with the media.
“To say she sometimes wishes she didn’t win the US Open because of the mental and physical strain it has brought cuts both ways; If she’s going to listen to every little thing that is said about her then that doesn’t work, you’ve got to be bulletproof and I can help her with that. You need an ability to forget just as importantly as the ability to remember and she must learn from the adversity she’s faced.”
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