Former coach of Serena Williams believes he could get Emma Raducanu back to her best

US Open

James Richardson
August 23, 2023

Former coach to Venus and Serena Williams, Rick Macci, has revealed that he has approached Emma Raducanu as a potential charge.

Macci believes that Raducanu is mentally strong and technically sound and her loss of confidence can be quickly be remedied.

Raducanu has been shelved by injuries but could return before the end of the 2023 season.

Macci feels that if he can connect with Raducanu that he could help her return to Grand Slam glory.

“I reached out to her agent earlier in the season,” Macci told OLBG.

“It will be interesting to see what happens there, I’ve never talked to her. I’d need to sit down with her and her parents to work out how much she still wants it.

“People looking from the outside in will always have an opinion on what’s going on. Her life changed in the blink of an eye after the U.S. Open.

“Then, you get all the endorsements and press attention, it’s not easy to deal with.

“I’d like to get inside her head- you’d be hoping that she wants to be the number one in the world and genuinely believe she can win slams again.

“She has the ability, she’s a great athlete, technically sound and has a great serve. ”

Macci believes that there is no way that Raducanu could become the first qualifier to win the US Open women’s singles title by fluke.

““You don’t go through qualifying and win the U.S. Open. That was no fluke at all. Mentally, she’s strong and a special young lady.

“She’s very good mentally, she reminds me of one of my students, Jennifer Capriati. She disappeared off the face of the earth, and came back- not just back, all the way back to number one. Three Grand Slams, an Olympic gold medal and a big contract with Fila. It can be done.

“I’d need to speak with her and get inside her head. If it’s not all about the competition, and you’re not willing to die for every point, then it’s not going to work. I wouldn’t work with a player unless they were all in.

“You can lose confidence and get it back. Nobody could help Raducanu better than me.”

Macci feels that the US Open women’s singles title is up for grabs with an open field.

“Women’s tennis is very fluid right now,” he said.

“The game has had to cope with a lot of dominant forces retiring, Serena Williams, Ash Barty and Naomi Osaka have all either retired or taken breaks from the game in recent years.”

Emma Raducanu