Tennis player Coco Gauff may soon be coached by Rick Macci, who trained sisters Serena and Venus Williams during their childhoods. This is what former player John McEnroe said during an appearance on the Holding Court with Pat McEnroe’s Enroe podcast.
“Nobody better [than Rick Macci] at breaking down the technical aspects of the game,” he said, Express reported. “According to him, he’s been in touch with Coco’s father about possibly spending some time to obviously try to fix that forehand. Because we all know the forehand swing and the technique on the forehead is very shaky.”
“And Rick said to me, if he could spend a solid amount of time with her, he thinks she can win multiple, multiple majors because right now it’s not solid enough off the forehand that he believes she can do it at the moment,” McEnroe continued.
Macci recently noted that Gauff’s forehand is her biggest weakness and must be addressed for her game to reach the next level.
“Coco Gauff and her forehand will be addressed and will become her best shot someday,” Macci tweeted on April 30. “Needs time off with the exact biomechanical plan to reprogram the reflexes of 12 years and confuse the muscle memory. All the advice the past five years has been a band-aid.”
The coach seemingly confirmed the rumor as he retweeted what McEnroe said on Twitter.
A sort of update on this: Patrick McEnroe says (in his latest podcast) that THE Rick Macci has approached Coco's father and wants to take on a coaching role to fix her forehand. Macci apparently, feels Coco can win multiple Slams once that's taken care of. https://t.co/FO4BiXyIhe
— Non-anxiety Magnet (parody) (@goesonrants) May 3, 2023
Macci is familiar with Gauff and her father. He previously expressed how promising she is as a player.
“I know Coco and her father, we’re all in Florida. She is the best pure athlete running on the WTA Tour. What that means is when you’re nervous, you can still play offense and defense. She can run, she’s a track star that has a tennis racket in her hand reminds me a lot of Venus as far as the strides and the running goes,” Macci told Tennis-Infinity.com in 2022.
“Forehand can be a little suspect, serve can kind of go off a little bit. Coco is going to win some Grand Slams there’s no doubt about it. She’s only 18, she’s gonna get better. But to dominate the game, I would like to see her play closer to the baseline, dictate, cut the court, take the ball early, hit the ball cleaner. She counter punches a lot and that’s a tougher way to make a living and to become a champion.”