Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach Goes Into Damage Control Mode as Friend’s Iga Swiatek Mockery Attracts Swarm of Criticism

Caitlin Thompson’s recent remark on Iga Swiatek drew the ire of the tennis world. Despite Thompson’s unsavory remark on her matches, the tennis world indeed wants to watch the World No. 1 play tennis and show her prowess on-court. The tennis community came out to support Swiatek. Furthermore, the former coach of Serena Williams, Rennae Stubbs, has come to defend the recent French Open champion as well!

In a recent episode of Racquet’s Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast featuring Caitlin Thompson, owner of Racquet magazine, the two discussed the ongoing tennis events. The conversation took a surprising turn when Thompson shared harsh remarks about Iga Swiatek. “I don’t want Iga playing differently. I just don’t want to watch her playing tennis,” she said.

Thompson further stated, “(..)Also have some kind of spectrum, strange interaction with other people on the tour,”  while speaking about the similarities between Swiatek and Justine Henin. Stubbs also received backlash as she did not take a stand for Swiatek quickly. The 53-year-old former player eventually took to her ‘X’ page and wrote, “Yes and i was uncomfortable at the time she said it and i should have checked it and edited it out, which i since have done. It was not ok. And i agree.”

In her following post, Stubbs further added, “And i will when i do the next pod!” Regardless, fans are still enraged about the fact and have expressed their dissatisfaction with the matter. One fan wrote, “Not that @rennaestubbs will care about this, but going forward I’ve decided to boycott pods with Caitlin Thompson. There’s no way I’ll let any pod poisons me again and CT is a guaranteed toxic overload.” Another fan wrote, “Once again Caitlin’s description of Iga on Rennae Stubbs’ podcast is absolutely awful….” 

Although late this time, Stubbs has always shown her support of Swiatek. Earlier this year, when the 23-year-old Pole was trolled for crying after her United Cup defeat against Jessica Pegula, Stubbs came out to defend her, “If Iga cried, it’s because she feels like she let her team down or whatever the reason, it’s ok. But to be so aggressive towards Iga when u don’t know her personally is incredible to me.”

Naturally, Thompson’ comments garnered a lot of attention from fans worldwide who stepped forward to criticize her. This is not the first time Caitlin Thompson received backlash from fans for her comments on Iga Swiatek. A similar incident took place in 2023 as well!

According to Caitlin Thompson, Iga Swiatek is “okay” to watch on-court

Last year, Caitlin Thompson expressed her views on how watching the Iga Swiatek, saying she is not “fun” to watch. While talking about Swiatek, who is spending her 107th week at the top, Thompson reflected on her Stuttgart victory in 2023.

Comparing her with the seven Grand Slam champions, Justine Hennin, she said, “Is Iga Swiatek this generation’s Justine Henin? And Justine Henin was my favorite player of all time. The difference is that Henin was fun to watch and I don’t think Iga is that fun to watch. She’s okay.” This conversation also took place during Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast as well.

Similarly, it also received heavy backlash from fans. This year is also no exception to that! Despite the harsh words shared by Thompson, Iga Swiatek continues her prowess on-court. The tennis world waits to see more of her exciting performances on-court as they hope to see her claim her first Wimbledon title.