Serena Williams' childhood coach, Rick Macci, recently revealed his pupil's determination to perfect her service from her early teens.
Serena is considered one of the best servers in WTA history because of her sheer power, pace, and placement. She tends to dominate most of her matches just by serving her opponents out of the court.
Her monopolization of that shot has enabled her to win 23 Grand Slams in singles, the second-most by a female tennis player. Serena turned pro in 1995 but worked under Macci's wing from 1991 when she frequented his tennis academy with her older sister Venus.
Macci shared a tweet explaining how Serena worked harder than any other player within his facility to become a "special" server. And the former World No. 1's hard work paid off as the celebrated coach opined that those who worked the hardest in a skill perfected it.
"Serena practiced more serves than student i ever taught. Funny how the ones that usually practice the most end up with something very special."
The WTA did not retain match statistics from 1995 (when Serena turned pro) until 2008, but her numbers for the rest of her tennis career support the claim that she will go down as the greatest server in women's tennis folklore.
From 2008 until 2022, Williams served over 4000 aces, won a higher percentage of first-serve points, and number of service games. No WTA player can match Williams' serving stats during that time.
Although this might be a subjective assessment and comparison to her peers who have played fewer matches in that time, it doesn't diminish the American's magic when she tosses that ball in the air from the baseline.
Serena hasn't played since retiring hurt at last year's Wimbledon, although she plans to return to action at the grass-court major next month.
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