Serena Williams’ former coach ‘would love to work with’ Emma Raducanu

News

Shahida Jacobs
May 3, 2023

Serena Williams’ former coach Rick Macci has extended a mentoring offer to Emma Raducanu, saying he believes “she can come back and be one of the best players in the world”.

Raducanu’s fairytale story has not quite turned into a nightmare, but she has struggled since becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam when she lifted the 2021 US Open.

After rising to the top 10 on the back of her Flushing Meadows success, Raducanu has battled with poor form, injuries and health issues. She has struggled to string together a decent run of results and has slipped outside the top 100 in the WTA Rankings.

The 20-year-old has also gone through multiple coaches since she made her breakthrough, but Macci – who has coached world No 1 ranked players including Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick – feels he can help her to regain her best form.

“I’ve never met her, I would love to work with this young lady,” he told the Tennis Unfiltered podcast. “I could help her mentally, I know I could get this girl back on track.”

Macci added: “Her life has changed, but that doesn’t mean she has to change. Everything has changed around her, but it’s still her playing tennis. I don’t know her. Is she still that hungry, still that competitive? These are the questions that are going to be asked a lot, because people are always going to assume that’s why she’s not doing as well, because she has other interests, blah, blah, blah.

“I can’t answer that question, but it has to be about one thing, anybody, anytime, anywhere: a love to compete, and by the way, if I compete well, there’s candy at the end of that. It can’t be the other way around. If it is, you’re not going to be as hungry.”

Many have questioned whether or not she is able to come close to replicating her New York success in future, but Macci feels she has a lot of potential.

He continued: “I believe that she can come back and be one of the best players in the world and win Grand Slams.

“It’s not where you start. It’s where you finish. Now, obviously what happened in New York, that wasn’t a fluke.

“You have to have the game. You have to have lots of other attributes to do something like that, and her mental strength could be her best asset even though now it’s probably kind of lopsided.

“But I love the technical part of our game. There’s nothing like a hole there say like Coco Gauff’s forehand. So the technical part is good. She’s authoritative. She can play through you. She has the game.

“So I still believe in her. She’s very young. She has the game. She has the talent in my opinion.

“This thing can flip around. I don’t know who’s involved with her. I know they’ve shuffled the deck. How much of it is her, the people around her… but I’d love that opportunity. Don’t count her out.”

Emma Raducanu