Serena Williams has been snubbed by her former coach Rick Macci when naming the best junior player in history.

Macci coached both Serena and Venus Williams during their childhood years between 1991 and 1995.

He has been full of praise for the 23-time Grand Slam champion throughout her career, with Macci frequently calling Serena the greatest of all time.

However, Macci has picked Jennifer Capriati as the greatest American junior of all time over either Williams sister.

Rick Macci calls Jennifer Capriati the greatest American junior ever

Macci coached Capriati as a junior in the late 1980s, and she went on to win two Grand Slam junior titles at the French Open and the US Open in 1989.

Capriati also won two Grand Slam junior doubles titles this year, showcasing her potential from the age of 13.

Alongside her junior major victories, Capriati also won the coveted junior Orange Bowl tournament twice, a feat only eight other players have managed in history.

Capriati would reach the final of her professional tournament at 13 years old, beating world number 10 Helena Sukova to do so.

This continued into her first Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros, when Capriati was 14 years and two months and she was able to reach the semifinal, only losing to eventual champion Monica Seles.

When reflecting on Capriati’s success from such a young age, Macci called her the greatest junior female in American history.

He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “The greatest female junior player ever in the history of the United States!! Jennifer Capriati the generator!!”

It would actually take a bit longer for Capriati to win her first Grand Slam title, which she did at the 2001 Australian Open when she was 24 years old.

Why did Serena Williams not play junior Grand Slam tournaments?

While some may be surprised to see Macci not pick Serena as the greatest of all time, she actually did not play any junior Grand Slams.

When asked about why her or sister Venus did not participate in juniors at the 2015 Miami Open, Serena explained that it was part of her father, Richard Williams’, vision, but she could understand why it would be the right path for many other players.

“I think everyone has to do different things,” Serena said in her press conference at the time. “You know, also it’s a lot of factors. My dad was a great coach and he’s just such a great thinker. He just had this whole vision.

“So what I’m saying is like if you don’t play juniors it’s hard for people to see you and get sponsorship, and tennis can be expensive. For some people I think it’s smart to play juniors. People can see your level and in you can have some help in terms of traveling and getting coaches and things of that nature. But fortunately enough, we were able to manage.”

Serena was then asked if having an older sister in Venus helped fill the void of not playing junior tennis.

“I think that helped a lot,” she responded. “You know, I travelled with her briefly as her hitting partner. I was her first hitting partner. Yeah.”

While she was not on the junior circuit, Serena found success from a young age on the professional tour.

Serena won her first WTA main draw match at just 16 years old, and just two years later she won her first Grand Slam title.