Four months ago, the man who started coaching Serena Williams when she was just nine predicted she would return to tennis, and it came true. The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion made a comeback earlier this month after completing her six-month drug-testing window in February. Now, with rumors that the 44-year-old will return to singles competition and that the All England Club has conspicuously kept one wildcard spot open in the women’s singles draw, the coach made another bold prediction that could come true again.

“Serena will play singles at Wimbledon. The Compton Comet has not accepted the final wildcard but 99.999 I have a feeling inside, the queen of the green will be seen on Centre Court and break TV tennis ratings about the sport,” Rick Macci posted on X this week.

Macci’s confidence is not born from speculation. “It doesn’t surprise me. I told everybody four months ago this was gonna happen. She’s been practising really hard, believe it or not. Once she got reinstated with the WTA, that kind of gave everybody a little snapshot of what was coming down the road,” he said. 

He also identified precisely why Wimbledon makes sense as the venue for a singles return. “The time is right and it’s on grass because the points are shorter and quicker. And let’s face it, she was the queen of Wimbledon and she loves playing on the grass court. So it doesn’t surprise me at all that she’s coming back and it doesn’t surprise me at this age,” Macci added.

Speaking during a press conference in Berlin, where she and Karolina Muchova lost in the first round of the doubles event, Serena was purposefully vague. “Oh my gosh, there’s some left? Would you be interested if I took it? You think I’m ready for singles. I need to go to work,” she said, before adding: “That’s the question of the hour, right?” 

Her comeback started earlier this month at Queen’s Club in doubles with Victoria Mboko, before the Canadian’s knee injury split the pair. Macci, who has spoken to those close to her situation, is filling the silence she has left with his own certainty. 

Serena Williams will play doubles with her sister Venus at SW19 this month. Their doubles reunion is already a story to watch for at Wimbledon. The sisters last played together at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, winning their sixth doubles title at the All England Club. They have 14 Grand Slam doubles titles between them. Serena’s solo appearance would add an entirely extra dimension to a return already captivating the world ahead of June 29. 

The man behind the prediction has earned the right to make it

The tennis world can’t afford to be complacent about Macci’s experience when considering Serena Williams. He began coaching her in 1991, when her father, Richard Williams, moved the family from Compton, California, to West Palm Beach, Florida. They spent four years laying the technical and psychological groundwork for all that was to come. 

He famously told Richard Williams that one of two things would happen with Serena: she would be world No. 1, or she would go to jail. The Oscar-winning biographical film King Richard dramatized his role in the Williams story for a mainstream audience, with Jon Bernthal portraying him.  

Wimbledon’s reserved singles spot is real. Whether Serena takes it, we will know this week. Macci is not entertaining doubt, and given his history with the woman he calls the queen of the grass, everyone would be wise to pay attention.