Rennae Stubbs, a former coach of
Serena Williams, has called out the lack of female coaches in tennis, saying it is 'a missed opportunity' for players to benefit from 'a female perspective.'
52-year-old Stubbs, a former world No. 1 in doubles, worked with tennis legend Serena as the American prepared for her farewell match at the 2022
US Open.
The Australian also has some other big names in her portfolio, as she worked with former world No. 1
Karolina Pliskova from August 2018 until spring 2019, during which time Stubbs was only one of two female coaches working with top-10 players, alongside Conchita Martinez.
Stubbs criticizes lack of female coaches
However, despite her working with some of the biggest names in the sport, Stubbs has since revealed that after her work with Serena, she received no interest from players looking to work with her.
"After the US was done and everybody knew that Serena was retiring, there has not been one phone call made to me or an approach from an agent to me if I would work with one of their players," she said.
Stubbs also emphasized that it was 'disappointing' as players could benefit a lot from having a female perspective in their coaching team.
"So [it’s] absolutely disappointing and shocking and surprising in a lot of ways. There is a missed opportunity there from some players out there that could absolutely benefit from a female’s perspective," she added.
Stubbs was then asked if her home country was ready for more female coaches, to which she responded negatively, calling Australia 'sexist.'
"I think Australia is probably as sexist as any country in the world, so doubtful," she said.