Rick Macci, who famously coached tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams, recently caught up with his “Little Venus”. He posted about the same on social media, revealing Saniyya Sidney as the young talent. Sidney is no stranger to the Williams family—she portrayed a young Venus Williams in the biographical film ‘King Richard’.
He made a post on Instagram, calling her a star and had nothing but praise for her.
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The movie tells the inspiring story of how Venus and Serena became tennis superstars under the guidance of their father, Richard Williams.
Sidney’s portrayal in the film, coupled with her connection to tennis royalty, has solidified her as a rising star. She’s already followed by Venus herself, along with other notable figures in the tennis world. Including Serena’s husband Alexis Ohanian and coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
With over 90k Instagram followers and a talent management team, Sidney is poised for a promising career.
Saniyya’s performance in King Richard was astounding. She received coaching from Macci himself, according to him she was so deep into the character during shoots and he totally fell in love with her work ethic and thirst for learning and getting better.
The bond that Venus and Macci had was more than what he shared with Serena. He could see the similarity with Saniyya too, her portrayal of venus was beyond iconic. He felt that he was giving lessons to Venus all over again while he was working with the “little venus”.
This video captures the essence of Macci and Sidney’s relationship perfectly.
Her mimicry of Venus was spot on, she was able to capture every single habit of hers in a way that it felt like you were looking at a younger Venus williams. Macci has expressed his love for Sidney multiple times. She knew nothing about tennis before the shoot started. He taught her tennis from scratch and she managed to pick it up brilliantly.
The documentary went on to become a blockbuster, Sidney’s efforts shined through and she received multiple award nominations for her role. It is great to see Rick Macci still so involved in the life of the Williams sisters, no one could hope for a better coach, mentor and a friend.
