Rick Macci
recently praised
Venus Williams for continuing to play on the WTA Tour at the
age of 43.
The former
world No. 1 is one of the greatest legends in tennis, completing her 30th
season as a professional in 2023, and Venus Williams has already stated that
she has no plans to retire soon.
Her former
coach, Rick Macci, spoke on the podcast 'Match Point Canada.' Macci emphasized
the 7-times Grand Slam champion's love for the sport and how it is reflected in
the affection she receives from fans:
"As
you know any athlete when they get to the fourth quarter of the back nine, it's
hard to hang it up. Football, baseball, hockey, you know, when your skills
maybe diminish a little bit. But, it's their decision. You can't listen to say,
you are not as quick as you were. Not as fast, whatever. That time will come.
She loves to play. It's must-see TV. Everybody loves V. She is gonna do it when
she wants to,"
"And
also at Wimbledon, she has grabbed five of them. You want to hear something
crazy. I was at my office in 1991, I told Angela Buxon- "this little girl
win five Wimbledon someday." Me and Venus used to practice two hours a day
on grass to shorten the batswing, take it early, make a great volley
spectacular, a good volley great, a bad volley good. So I did it as a
development tool"
"But
Venus beat what 14 in the world at Wimbledon. But she had such a bad loss at
the US Open that it was magnified. You know what I am saying. She got beat bad.
She'll do it when she is ready. But, she just loves to play, she just loves to
be out there. I mean she has nothing to prove."