Serena Williams‘ former coach Rennae Stubbs speaks her mind. Despite her criticisms bringing people’s disappointment, Stubbs remains firm in her judgment. After Coco Gauff‘s shocking US Open run this season, Stubbs didn’t sugarcoat her words for the WTA star. While this enraged the Coco Gauff fans. Now, Stubbs has spoken about the controversy surrounding her criticism of Coco Gauff’s double faults in the 2024 US Open.

Gauff performed poorly in the last American Slam. She made 19 double faults with 60 unforced errors in Slam’s fourth-round match against Emma Navarro. Among Gauff’s 19 double faults, 11 were from the decisive sets. The attendees were shocked to see the WTA no 6’s performance against semifinalist Navarro. Stubbs, working as an ESPN commentator for the Grand Slam, had an awkward moment when Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert attended an ESPN panel session with her. The former coach of Serena Williams was criticizing his pupil’s performance in front of Gilbert and some of Gauff’s followers who were dissatisfied about how the situation turned out.

Stubbs cleared the air in her latest podcast. Mentioning how “it’s not easy,” she explained that ESPN might have asked Gilbert to offer his views on Coco’s match because they thought it would be great to hear directly from Gauff’s coach, but it was also awkward for other commentators there. However, in “bottom-line” she said, “I just feel like my job is to also tell people at home why she’s losing and why she lost that match. That’s my job. And you know, Brad’s a professional. He understands he’s not going to be. He doesn’t hold it against me.”

Serena Williams’ former coach made it clear that coaches are professionals. Since she was a speaker on the panel, it was her job to let people know that why the defending champion lost. Gilbert didn’t mind because he knew that is how coaches function. Stubbs offered the example of another coach telling people how the situation would have been the same with a different person.

Rennae Stubbs remains firm about not mincing words against Coco Gauff

Stubbs’ strict choice of words for Coco Gauff’s poor performance went under the spotlight because it was said in front of Brad Gilbert. While Serena Williams’ former coach called it professionalism, she also dropped an exciting example to add leverage to her opinion. “This is… it’s part of the job and if you know [Darren Cahill], if [Jannik Sinner] loses I’m sure if Brad was on the desk with Darren and he did 19 double faults, he’d probably say ‘Bro you gotta get your player to not hit double 19 double faults’ and this is what I see that could improve,” she said.

Rennae Stubbs’ opinion on the matter highlights the professionalism of the coaches. While Gauff’s unbelievable performance in the Slam shocked the world, her coach had to endure criticisms and comments because winning or losing both are parts of the game. Stubbs’ opinion showed how players and coaches should prepare to face criticism because this is what makes them stronger for the next match. Do you think Stubbs was right in her opinion?