Rick Macci, former coach of American tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams, has been an exemplary mentor for numerous youngsters over . With an impressive list of names who have trained under him, his most popular charges are possibly the Williams sisters, Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova. He runs a tennis academy in Florida.

Recently, Rick spoke about his star pupils Serena and Venus Williams and their father Richard’s drive to give them the best opportunities every single time. Glimpses of Macci’s influence on Venus and Serena were seen in Will Smith’s King Richard.

Also read: ‘I Believed in Venus and Serena’ – Former Coach Rick Macci Explains What Serena Williams’ Father Richard Williams Had Written in the Letter

Macci recalls Richard’s relentless drive to give Venus and Serena Williams the best

Macci reminisced about the time when there was an accident on an interstate highway on their way to the practice court. As a result of this, the traffic had piled up and stopped moving altogether. Richard, true to his side, pulled to the right, and drove on the shoulder, flouting rules to ensure that his daughters reached the court on time.

“I forget what interstate it was, but there was an accident or whatever. And we were all me, Venus, Serena, the hitting partner, you know, all we’re all stuffed into a car. And we’re stuck in a traffic jam. And if you didn’t get to the court on time, you weren’t going to have your practice court.”

The American coach continued, “Now remember, off the shoulder, because we’re in California, there are some interesting cliffs to the right. Alright. Besides possible, the police or whatever, this guy’s buzzing down the shoulder 50 miles an hour.”

The mentality that Macci says Richard had was that even if he got a ticket, they would at least make it to the court to keep their booking.

“Okay, now, is that fearless or stupidity? I think you need a little bit of both. I mean, I wouldn’t have done that. But at the end of the day, we got to practice court. So once again, Richard Williams wins,” Macci concluded.

It is actually from anecdotes like these that it becomes clear just how close Macci was to the entire Williams family.

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