Serena Williams’ ex-coach fumes as Paris Masters trouble brews after withdrawal

11/02/2023

The former coach of Serena Williams has slammed the ATP tour and organisers of the Paris Masters after one of the top seeds was forced to withdraw from the round of 16 due to insufficient recovery time between matches.

No. 4 seed Jannik Sinner was due to play Australia’s Alex de Minaur in Thursday’s final session, but the Italian’s previous match against American Mackenzie McDonald did not conclude until 2.37am CET this morning.

The three-set battle took two hours and 18 minutes to decide with world No. 42 McDonald winning the first set on a tie-breaker. Sinner showed his class to fight back, winning the second set 7-5 before taking control in the deciding set with a 6-1 finish.

But as the contest came to a close with most people in the French capital already tucked up in bed, Rennae Stubbs – who coached Williams during her final ever tournament at the US Open in 2022, couldn’t hide her disappointment with the absurdity of such a late finish.

Taking to social media, Stubbs wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Finishing at almost 3 am at a masters 1000!!!! WTH @atptour!!! What is happening? It’s indoors!!!! How is this possible!!?????”

The Australian coach also called for a change in leadership on both the ATP and WTA tours and even suggested that the two outfits should merge to promote better decision-making.

Stubbs wrote: “Man, I think it’s time someone took over the ATP AND @WTA tours! Anyone out there that thinks they could do this better??? Join tours!??”

Stubbs’ dismay at the late finish of Sinner’s match appears not to have been without merit as the world No. 4 has since pulled out of the tournament altogether citing “fatigue”. As a result, De Minaur will receive a walkover victory that puts the Australian straight into the quarter-finals.

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De Minaur will now face No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev in the last eight with a possible semi-final clash against Novak Djokovic on the cards.

The idea of the ATP and WTA tours merging has previously been suggested by both Williams and all-time great Roger Federer.

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