“Stop practicing with men”: Andre Agassi’s father once blamed male practice partners for shocking downfall of Serena Williams and Venus Williams

In 2004, Mike Agassi suggested that Venus and Serena Williams were struggling because they practiced with men. He told Richard Williams that the sisters lost confidence as their powerful shots were easily returned. Agassi believed training with women would improve their game. Rick Macci, Serena's coach, had a different view.

Venus Williams and Serena Williams were once given a very strong piece of advice by Mike Agassi, the father of tennis legend Andre Agassi. This happened in 2004, when both Venus and Serena were struggling on the court. That year, neither of them won a Grand Slam singles title. Their rankings dropped, and people began to wonder what was going wrong. Mike Agassi told Tennis Week in 2004 that he spoke directly to Richard Williams, the father and coach of Venus and Serena. He believed the sisters were losing confidence because they were practicing with men, not women. According to him, this made their game weaker instead of stronger.

Mike Agassi told Richard Williams in 2004 to stop Venus and Serena Williams from training with men

Mike Agassi said the big mistake was that Venus Williams and Serena Williams were practicing with male players. He explained that when the sisters hit powerful shots, the men easily returned them. That made the sisters try even harder, hitting bigger and riskier shots which often went out. As a result, they lost their rhythm, missed their serves, and slowly started losing confidence.

"I was talking with Serena's father and I said: the reason your daughters are losing is because they are practicing with men," Mike Agassi told Tennis Week.

“You try to hit bigger and bigger until the ball goes out. Then you lose your serve and your confidence.”

Agassi also pointed out that Russian players like Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova, and Svetlana Kuznetsova were winning Grand Slam titles that year. He believed they were doing better because they trained with each other, not with men. “They are not even half as talented as Venus and Serena,” he added, “but they have more confidence because of how they practice.”

Rick Macci said Serena Williams trained with boys and even beat them easily

Serena Williams’ childhood coach Rick Macci shared a different view. He said Serena always practiced with boys and didn’t care about who she played. She even beat older boys with ease. “In practice, all Serena did was play guys,” Macci once said.

Macci also recalled that when Serena was just 11, she said she was better than tennis star John McEnroe. “She believed it,” Macci said. “She had the fire and confidence of a true champion.”