"Elena Rybakina first, Iga Swiatek is vulnerable on grass" - Serena Williams' former coach Rick Macci on Wimbledon favorites

Renowned tennis coach Rick Macci has named Elena Rybakina over Iga Swiatek as his favorite for the Wimbledon Championships.

Rybakina is the reigning Wimbledon champion. Last year, she became the youngest woman to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish since Petra Kvitova (21 years old) in 2011.

The 24-year-old also became the fourth-youngest active Grand Slam champion on the WTA tour, with only Swiatek, Bianca Andreescu, and Emma Raducanu achieving Major success at a younger age.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Macci, who has trained five World No. 1s in his career (Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams), picked Rybakina as his Wimbledon favorite.

"I would go with Rybakina first. She has the most aces on the WTA tour. I love her serve. She can hit spots. She gets a lot of mileage out of it, obviously," he said.

While praising Swiatek, Macci opined that she remains vulnerable on grasscourts, where her forehand could be an issue with the way the ball behaves on the surface.

"Iga is mentally strong, but I see grass, she's more vulnerable. I think people can get into her forehand a little bit. And listen, if anybody gets nervous, anybody can beat anybody. But Iga is so mentally strong. But the forehand will be a little bit more of an issue on a grasscourt because the ball skids," he stated.

The 68-year-old American then named Coco Gauff as a player he's looking forward to watching at SW19, and maybe even seeing her make a run for the title.

"I'd love to see Coco Gauff, you know they live here in Delray Beach. I'm great friends with the father. She has a great first serve or slicers. Gonna get more value on the grass. Her backhands, a laser beam. I love it, she's mentally strong. The forehand could be a little bit of an issue because the ball is gonna get in on her. But I'd love to see her get in there," he said.

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Rennae Stubbs and Andy Roddick also pick Elena Rybakina over Iga Swiatek for Wimbledon

Elena Rybakina (L) and Iga Swiatek at the 2023 Australian Open.

Rennae Stubbs, another former coach of Serena Williams, also picked Elena Rybakina as her favorite for Wimbledon. She also named World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka as a player who could make a title run in London.

Former doubles World No. 1 Stubbs backed French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova as well to be a real threat at the grasscourt Slam, fitness permitting.

"Wimbledon is gonna be great. I think Elena Rybakina is the favorite there in my opinion and Aryna Sabalenka. I think they're the two probably best players on grass," she said.

"And I really think that Karolina Muchova, if she stays healthy, I think she is a real threat at Wimbledon," she added.

Former ATP World No. 1 Andy Roddick called Rybakina the best grasscourt player in the world right now and stressed that Swiatek, for all her achievements, is largely unproven on grass.

"[Elena Rybakina is my favorite to win at the All England Club] because she's the best grasscourt player in the world. It’s pretty straightforward," he stated.

"None of this is a slight to Iga, but she's unproven on this surface. I'm sure she would probably tell you the same thing and she does have some challenges on this surface. And what she does creating those RPMs, the movement that she has on clay, those things don't translate to a grasscourt,” he added.

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships get underway on July 3.