"Venus Williams never lost to Serena Williams in practice, she was undefeated"

Tennis coach Rick Macci recently revealed that Venus Williams remained undefeated against her younger sister Serena Williams in practice games under his watch.

Rick Macci coached the Williams sisters from the year 1991 to 1995. Richard, the duo's father, used to accompany them to Macci's tennis academy in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Venus turned professional in 1994 and Serena did so in 1995. The two, however, didn't come face to face on tour until 1997. They first played each other in the second round of the Australian Open in 1998. Venus drew first blood as she defeated Serena 7-6(4), 6-1.

Serena registered her first victory over Venus a year later at the 1999 Grand Slam Cup in Munich, Germany. In total, the sisters locked horns 31 times till 2020. Serena finished ahead in the head-to-head with a lead of 19-12 before calling it a day in September 2022.

However, Rick Macci recently took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared the interesting stat of Venus not losing to Serena in a practice match during the years of learning at his academy.

"[Venus Williams] never lost to Serena in practice. Vee was undefeated against the little Compton Pitbull," he wrote.

Macci further revealed that Richard used to oppose a practice game between his daughters.

"From 1991 to 1995 Richard refused to have them ever play each other as he said they would play each other 30 times on the tour. He was wrong. They played 31. 19 TO 12 Goat," Macci added.

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Venus Williams: "Serena Williams told me I am not allowed to quit"

Venus Williams has entered her 30th year as a tennis professional but shows no signs of stopping soon with her younger sister Serena Williams having her back.

Venus recently disclosed in a video message on YouTube that Serena has specifically told her to not give up. She said:

"My little sister Serena told me I am not allowed to quit and of course I would never quit. But it's the mandate, she said no. So I will be back on the court."

The seven-time Grand Slam champion also announced that she would grace the hardcourts of Indian Wells and Miami.

"One of my big goals is to play in the United States, to play in Miami Open and the Indian Wells. I have not played there since 2019 due to injuries. It's a long time. These next tournaments will be in 2024, it's a lot of years not to play at home," she added.