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Serena Williams says she was born with the innate to always want to win and be the best in everything, while her sister Venus Williams didn’t have that.
During their childhood, the Williams sisters were coached by Rick Macci. Over the years, the 70-year-old spoke many times about how amazed and impressed he was by what he was seeing from the two at a very young age.
Whenever he spoke about Serena, he would often describe her as someone who was the ultimate competitor even at the age of 10.
Later, she became a Grand Slam champion at just 17 after winning the 1999 US Open. That was just the beginning of an all-time great career which resulted in 23 Majors and many other astonishing accomplishments. And the 43-year-old never hid her desire to achieve success and be the best.
While she ultimately fell just short of beating Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Slams, some still argue that there are legitimate arguments to consider the American tennis icon as the greatest players in tennis history.
“I think it’s definitely a little nurture but also something that’s innate. I was born to win. We used to have these talent show and if I didn’t win the talent show, I would go nuts. I would cry, throw a fit… It was innate for me to always have this drive to be the best and to win,” Serena said during her appearance on the New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
“That part was innate and Venus always said that she didn’t have that part. She learned it… I think you can get it both ways. I think it’s good that if you don’t have something, you can still develop it later on by working on it.”
Serena Williams: Venus would have more Slams if not for me but I’d also be at 30 if not for her
When her career finished, the younger of the two sisters finished with a 19-12 record in their head-to-head. Of those 31 meetings, eight came in Grand Slam finals – the 43-year-old was triumphant on six occasions and twice lost.
Now, Venus sits at seven Major titles. Considering that the 44-year-old was one of the most dominant forces during the 2000s, many argue that she could have easily collected more than 10 Slams. One of those was Macci, who said the 44-year-old would have had 15 Majors if not for her sister.
The younger Williams sister agreed with that point but also noted that she would probably top the 30-Slams mark if she didn’t have her sister as a rival.
In the 2017 Australian Open final – which turned out to be the last time that the two tennis icons met at the Grand Slam stage – Serena won to improve to 23 Majors.
“We had this rule that if we played against each other before the final, we had to win the title. I think Venus would have had a minimum of 15 Grand Slams if we didn’t play. I would have had 30. There was no separation at all. Looking back, I don’t know how we dealt with that. We were so close, we grew up so close. My family was like, ‘No fighting, you girls are always going to be sisters and that’s that,” Serena said.
“But we actually lived together until I got married, which wasn’t that long ago. We just always lived together. I think that helped our relationship. We had to figure out a way to work it out. We had to communicate, you know, we had to have those difficult conversations. I think we just, without even realizing, leaned into that. As long as I was winning.”
Macci made a major claim about Serena Williams
Following her 2017 Australian Open victory, overcoming Court’s Slam record seemed like a safe bet. But then, the American had to take some time away from tennis due to pregnancy.
When she returned, the former world No. 1 made four more Grand Slam finals but stunningly went 0-4 in those matches.
In Macci’s eyes, the legendary American was “the best athlete ever to hold a racket” and deserved to reach 30 Majors.
“Serena could have had 30 Grand Slams if she would’ve played all the tournaments, wouldn’t have taken time off, wouldn’t have injuries but I think that’s irrelevant. People don’t realize how good Serena was. She checked every box and she added a few more,” Macci said on the Match Point Canada podcast in late 2023.
“She’s the best athlete to ever hold a racket and maybe one of the best female athletes of all time. Big, strong, fast, quick, flexible, could do the splits. She also knew where you were going to hit the ball before you did.”
