"A bunch of drunks called me Steffi Graf": Rennae Stubbs reveals bizarre encounter in wake of Coco Gauff sharing racist autograph experiences

Tennis News
Saturday, 12 August 2023 at 02:14
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Rennae Stubbs has opened up about a strange encounter with some drunk people who mistook her for Steffi Graff, after Coco Gauff shared her racist experiences of mistaken identity.
Stubbs has had a successful career, both on the court and in coaching. The 52-year-old struggled on the singles circuit, but achieved four Grand Slam titles in doubles, with an extra two in mixed doubles. The Australian has since gone on to coach the likes of Serena Williams and Karolina Pliskova. She is currently working with Canada's Eugenie Bouchard.
This impressive feat meant that she held the position of world No. 1 in the discipline, something which 19-year-old Gauff also achieved last year. However, the two players have now been sharing their experiences on another topic, that of mistaken identity.
Gauff shares funny but racist experiences with fans
World No. 7 Gauff shared a list of other players she has been mistaken for, most of whom were other African-American women, on Twitter.
She added that most recently, she had been mistaken for Canadian player Leylah Fernandez, presumably whilst at the National Bank Canadian Open (Omnium Banque Nationale) in Montreal, where both women are currently competing.
The American player was responding to a tweet asking:
"You ever had a racist experience but it was funny tho"
In response, Gauff wrote that she had been asked to sign autographs as Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams, Serena, Taylor Townsend, and Alycia Parks, before being mistaken by a fan for Fernandez:
"I sign autographs as myself but occasionally I am somehow also signing as Sloane, Venus, Serena, Taylor, Alycia, and yesterday I got Leylah for the first time lollll."

Stubbs and other players reveal their experiences

This led to other players responding with their own cases of mistaken identity. Stubbs replied saying that some drunks once mistook her for German former world No. 1 Graff:
"A bunch of drunks called me Steffi Graf once and to be honest, i ran with it!" she wrote, before adding that in her home country of Australia, she often gets mistaken for her compatriot Alicia Molik.
"I get called Alicia Molik on the regular in Australia!"
In addition to Stubbs, Gauff's doubles partner Jessica Pegula responded saying that she had once been asked to sign an autograph as Gauff herself:
"One time I signed and the woman thought I was you…that one got me lol," she wrote.
Meanwhile, Christopher Eubanks also added his experience to the conversation, saying he was mistaken twice for Gael Monfils, who is a French player of Caribbean descent:
"I got called Monfils twice in DC lol," he commented.

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