Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs was elated at the news of the US Open’s collaboration with the historic Stonewall Inn, going by her recent Instagram story.
Earlier on Tuesday (22 August), the US Open organizers announced in their press release that the Grand Slam tournament had been certified by New York City’s historic Stonewall Inn as a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. The Stonewall Inn is a national historical landmark that first advocated for gay rights in the 1960s.
The former tennis player expressed happiness at the American Major tournament’s decision to collaborate with the iconic West Village landmark in her Instagram story. She reposted a video of her and Marisa Grimes, USTA’s Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Officer, posing with the certificate that legitimizes US Open’s Safe Space status.
“And today the US Open became a certified SAFE SPACE!” Serena Williams’ coach said in her story.
Serena Williams’ former coach also advocates for women’s rights regularly
Rennae Stubbs, who was part of Serena Williams’ team at the time of her retirement, is a staunch supporter of not only LGBTQ+ rights but women’s rights as well.
In February, the 52-year-old had criticized Tennis Channel’s coverage of the Qatar Open and the Argentina Open by disclosing that they only had one commentator covering big matches at the two tournaments.
“Women’s final from Doha, 1 announcer. Men’s semi-final from Rotterdam, 2 announcers. What’s up with that TC!??? And also for the men’s match in Buenos Aires there were two commentators. Women’s final just one!?? I’m so confused,” she wrote
More recently, the Aussie expressed discontent with the fact that women’s employment was not encouraged in tennis coaching. She also admitted that she hadn’t received any calls for her services despite a positive stint as a coach at the 2022 US Open.
“I was able to help Serena Williams for the last couple of weeks before her US Open run where she was not playing great tennis, and I think she played pretty well at the US Open, so I hope I made a difference there,” Stubbs said.
“But 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”
Apart from Serena Williams, Rennae Stubbs has also coached several other top players on the women’s tour, including Karolina Pliskova, Genie Bouchard and Sam Stosur.
