By TennisUpToDate.com

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Ex-coach of the former world number one Serena Williams,
Rick Macci, has named the player to challenge the dominance of Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek in women’s tennis. Both players have remained the main force in women’s tennis over the last three years and won six and four Grand Slam titles, respectively.

The only other player to win multiple Grand Slam titles during that time is America’s Coco Gauff. Macci, however, has named Russia’s young tennis sensation Mirra Andreeva as the ideal candidate to challenge the supremacy of Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff in the near future. The 18-year-old is already regarded as one of the best players in the world, but
has found it hard to deliver success consistently on the biggest stage in the
second half of the season this year.

The 70-year-old, while speaking in an
interview with Tennis 365, where he was asked about which player he thinks is
capable of challenging the top-three players in women’s tennis, Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff. In response to that, Macci was quick to name Andreeva as
the likeliest candidate to do that in the near future. Macci was of the opinion
that the primary reason for that to happen is that Andreeva is mentally
stronger than most players are at her age. Macci also highlighted that Andreeva’s
ability to change the ‘direction of the ball’ early in the point makes her an
even tougher candidate to face on the tennis court.

“No doubt about it, the new sheriff in town: Mirra
Andreeva. She’s one of the best young prospects I’ve seen in a long time,” said
Macci. “And the reason why: mentally, she is cut from a different cloth, she’s
a brutal, brutal competitor. She’s more mature now. But what she does a little
bit different, she changes direction of the ball very early in the point. And
we all know there’s a fine line between courage and stupidity. At the end of
the day, this is what she does and she gets you out of your comfort zone. So
that’s number one and she does that with conviction and with confidence. “And people gotta take a step back and
understand, she’s only 18 and she’s five in the world. So I see greatness, and
the thing about her game, once she gets into that number one category — one,
two [in the rankings] — she’s not going anywhere, because she has too much
competitiveness.”

Macci also highlighted another quality of Andreeva, which sets
her apart from the rest. Macci stated that Andreeva is a ‘very good mover’ and
suggested the Russian young tennis sensation has all the qualities to win more
than 10 Grand Slams.

One for the future

“She’s actually a very good mover,” said Macci. “Even
though it was a little shaky on the clay and it took her a while to get going
on the grass – I’m not worried about that. And let’s face it, most of the
tournaments are on hard-court. But Mirra Andreeva’s the real deal and I think
her future is as bright as anybody. A double digit Grand Slam winner.”

Macci further went on to make another bold prediction
that Andreeva will become a world number one in the future. Macci stated
that Andreeva’s ability to move so well on the hard court makes her an exceptional
talent, and she is someone who can take the next step to become one of the very best
in the world in no time.

“I called this a couple of years ago, I knew where this
was going,” said Macci. “She (Andreeva) is gonna be number one. I think on hard
courts, her movement is 20 to 25% better than on clay. I think she gets in and
out of the corners better on the hard-court, and she uses the forehand slice. And
I know a lot of coaches don’t like the kids or people to do that, but listen,
the game is very different than even six years ago, 10 years ago. I counted one
match against Sabalenka, she did it over 30 times when she was out wide to live
another day. She resets the point, but what she does different, she’s resetting
the point low. She’s hitting the ball back with underspin. When you keep it out
of the strike zone… so here’s Andreeva, that’s a part of her toolbox, that’s a
part of her playbook, she chips the ball and keeps it in play where a lot of
people reset it with topspin — and I’m not saying that’s wrong — but the people
can step up and drive it from the shoulder. So when you keep it low, she lives
another day. So that’s one piece that I love about her game. And she’ll throw
in the drop shot, a lob and she’ll throw in the backhand slice and she’s not
afraid to volley and take the ball out of the air.”