EXCLUSIVE: "I can see him winning 10+ Grand Slams" - Macci on Korda as future of American tennis
ATP
In an exclusive interview with Tennis-Infinity.com, Rick Macci spoke about Sebastian Korda and the future of American tennis.
Sebastian Korda is currently the seventh highest-ranked player under 22 years and also the seventh highest-ranked American in the ATP Rankings.
After his first ATP title and good results in 2021, he broke into the Top 50 and confirmed his position also in 2022, but he will need a bit more than that to become the next American great. Speaking about his potential, Rick Macci said:
"There's no doubt in my mind he will be the next great American. I'm very good friends with Rilley Opelka, Francis Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, there's a lot of good Americans. This kid is different. The genetic base is off the charts what i mean by that both his parents played pro tennis his sisters are both high level pro golfers are both top ten in the world."
"Genetics have a lot to do with this. He has a very compact game, very clean groundstrokes that's gonna bode well on fast surfaces. Even though on his forehand he doesn't get as much spin as the other guys on the forehand it's more of a Federer forehand where it's a tight spin so i think that's going to bode well on grass. His backhand's money in the bank he could take it up the line or cross court like Agassi."
Although Macci praised Korda a lot, he also managed to identify areas for improvement. According to the American coach, Korda could improve on his serve.
"His serve should be a lot better. I'd love to have the opportunity to biomechanically put that together a little better. I think his serve could be fifteen miles faster with his height and he's going to need that as time goes on. I think he's going to have an amazing career, he's the next great American."
Macci has so much belief in Korda, that he believes the youngster could become a "double-digit Grand Slam player," something not many players managed to do in their careers.
"I can see him being a double-digit Grand Slam player. I think as time goes on it's gonna be Alcaraz and Korda at the top. Korda has a little bit ways to go. But you know we sit here and we talk like this before it happened then when it happens it's not a big deal."
