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\n After winning seven grand slam singles titles, spending 11 weeks as the world No. 1 and forming part of arguably the most dominant tennis dynasty in history \u2013 there is very little left for Venus Williams to achieve in the sport.\n <\/p>\n
\n And yet the 45-year-old is once again preparing to compete at another grand slam, after being handed a wild card entry into this year\u2019s US Open<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Having already played in the much-talked about mixed doubles event<\/a> earlier this week, Venus is now set to take the stage in the singles draw \u2013 a competition she has won twice already in her legendary career.\n <\/p>\n \n To grasp how and why Venus is still playing at the highest level, over 30 years on from her professional debut, it\u2019s helpful to understand how her sporting legacy started \u2013 and hardly anyone knows that better than her childhood coach, Rick Macci.\n <\/p>\n \n Speaking to CNN Sports<\/a> ahead of this year\u2019s US Open, Macci explains how it took him just a split second to see how far Venus could go in the sport.\n <\/p>\n \n He had already worked with some of the best players in the world, but said things felt very different with this young girl from Compton.\n <\/p>\n \n As depicted in the Oscar-nominated film \u201cKing Richard<\/a>,\u201d Macci was convinced by Richard Williams to assess the abilities of his two young daughters, Venus and Serena, in a now legendary session which altered the shape of the sport.\n <\/p>\n \n While Serena would go on to become the greatest female tennis player in history, it was her older sister Venus who paved the way \u2013 becoming a legend of the game who transcended the sport and ushered in a new generation of talent.\n <\/p>\n \n But before all the stardom, there was just tennis and Macci recalls their very first practice session as if it was yesterday.\n <\/p>\n \n Ironically, he said, he was somewhat underwhelmed at the start of their first practice, with the pair working through routine drills. But everything changed once the sisters started playing competitive points, with Venus (who is two years older than Serena) impressing most.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe whole landscape changed. They started popping the popcorn with extra butter. The footwork went off the charts. The preparation got better,\u201d Macci said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI never saw two little girls, especially Venus, run so hard to get to a ball, even when it was 20 feet away from them. They would run so hard, they would almost fall down. It was almost like there was a rage.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re going to be a great tennis player, but that means in the game of life, there is something inside of you, a determination like no other. When I saw that, I started projecting.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n It was after that session that Macci spoke with their father, in a conversation that has since been immortalized in film.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cYou got the next female Michael Jordan on your hands,\u201d Macci told Richard. \u201cNo brother, man, I got the next two,\u201d their dad retorted.\n <\/p>\n \n The rest, then, is history. Macci helped move the family from Compton to Florida, where he spent countless hours working with the sisters at his tennis academy.\n <\/p>\n \n Being the eldest of the two, Venus showed the most promise in those early years and Macci remembers just how special an athlete she was \u2013 recalling times she would walk on her hands and flip into cartwheels to pass the time.\n <\/p>\n \n It was his job, he said, to harness that raw talent and athleticism into a winning machine.\n <\/p>\n \n Over the next three-and-a-half years, that\u2019s exactly what he and their dad did, spending hours on court shaping Venus\u2019 game and honing her ability. There was no time for junior tournaments, just hours of practice to build greatness.\n <\/p>\n \n Then, in 1994, due to age limit rules changing around professional tennis, it was decided that Venus would turn pro and, at just 14, she played her first official game at the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland.\n <\/p>\n \n Macci was the one who got her a wild card entry into the tournament, but said he didn\u2019t really know how Venus would stand up to players on the senior tour.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI just knew people would see this girl, six-feet tall, serving 112 mph, running like the wind, open stance everywhere and unreal firepower,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cDo you have the mental part of it? You know, that can take longer, and I didn\u2019t know what to expect.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n As it turns out, he shouldn\u2019t have worried.\n <\/p>\n \n Venus, already attracting plenty of attention from the media, beat Shaun Stafford in straight sets, before pushing the then world No. 1 Arantxa S\u00e1nchez Vicario in the next round.\n <\/p>\n \n It was a window into Venus\u2019 future, and a chance for the world to finally see this mysterious teenager who had been tipped, mainly by her father and Macci, to be a future star of the sport.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s a pressure that might have swallowed up most children. Even today, there are several examples of young players who struggle under the weight of expectation, tripped up by their own early success.\n <\/p>\n \n But Macci said it was always different with Venus, as well as Serena.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThey were bulletproof,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re just put together mentally different.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cEverybody gets nervous, but they want the pressure. I think that speaks volumes because no one has handled pressure better than those two, if you look at all the things coming at them through their career.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n With her parents still wanting Venus to enjoy her childhood, her entry into professional tennis was managed, but the cat was already out of the bag.\n <\/p>\n \n Multi-million dollar sponsorship deals soon came her way and both Venus and Serena eventually switched coaches, forging glittering careers and becoming household names.\n <\/p>\n \n Macci, now an International Tennis Hall of Fame coach, has nothing but pride looking back at those early years and still considers the two sisters as his own daughters.\n <\/p>\n \n Venus went on to achieve everything he had predicted, enjoying many days in the spotlight. In addition to her seven grand slam singles titles, she won 14 grand slam doubles titles alongside Serena, and added another two mixed doubles triumphs with fellow American Justin Gimelstob.\n <\/p>\n \n Her career wasn\u2019t without challenges, though. Most notably, Venus announced in 2011 that she was suffering from Sj\u00f6gren\u2019s syndrome<\/a>, a debilitating autoimmune disease.\n <\/p>\n \n It forced her to take time away from the game, where she was able to learn how best to manage the sometimes debilitating symptoms.\n <\/p>\n \n She eventually returned to tennis, occasionally recapturing some of her dominating form, but her career was subsequently hampered by a string of injuries which limited her time on court.\n <\/p>\n \n But every time she was knocked back, she would always find a way to return and she did so again earlier this year.\n <\/p>\n \n After 16 months away from the sport, a 45-year-old Venus stunned the tennis world by beating fellow American Peyton Stearns in straight sets at the DC Open.\n <\/p>\n![\"Venus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-07t205359z-475680688-mt1usatoday26800909-rtrmadp-3-tennis-cincinnati-open.JPG\")
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