"Not many as great as Andy Murray when it comes to fighting for equality" - Serena Williams' ex-coach lauds Brit's call for increase in female coaches
Rennae Stubbs has hailed Andy Murray for raising the important issue of gender equality after the latter called for increasing the participation of female coaches on the ATP, as well as the WTA tour.
Murray on Saturday, July 29, expressed his surprise over the low number of female coaches working with players, especially on the WTA Tour.
"It's really important. It's something I've found surprising on both tours, but particularly on the women's tour. How few female coaches there are. It's time WTA had an initiative to help. It's something that needs to change," said Murray.
Serena Williams' former coach Stubbs responded on social media to the Brit's statement and praised him for voicing his concerns regarding gender equality. She wrote:
"And btw not many are as great as Andy when it comes to fighting for equality in this world! Love the guy."
@TheTennisLetter @andy_murray And btw not many are as great as Andy when it comes to fighting for equality in this world! Love the guy
Stubbs decried the lack of effort being put in by the players themselves to improve the situation, saying:
"It's hard when the actual players don’t take the leap to hire great female coaches."
@TheTennisLetter @andy_murray it’s hard when the actual players don’t take the leap to hire great FEMALE coaches.
She further blamed the agents for promoting male coaches.
"Also may I add, agents are also the ones that don’t take the leap either and all too often agents are the ones making those decisions," Stubbs added.
@TheTennisLetter @andy_murray Also may i ad, agents are also the ones that don’t take the leap either and all too often agents are the ones making those decisions.
Murray has worked with two female coaches so far in his illustrious career. The Brit teamed up with two-time Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo between 2014 and 2016. The three-time Grand Slam winner also owes his success to his mother Judy Murray, who taught him tennis early in his career.
Andy Murray once defended Amelie Mauresmo after failing to win Majors under her watch
Amelie Mauresmo was criticized for her time with Andy Murray as the Brit failed to win a Majors title under her guidance. Murray, however, has condemned the criticism in the past, stating that people were harsh on Mauresmo only because of her gender.
"It's one of my regrets that I didn't win a Grand Slam when I was working with her - for a lot of people that was considered a failure. I feel that she was harshly judged by a lot of people, purely because she was a woman," Murray said.
Mauresmo joined forces with Murray after the latter had split with Ivan Lendl. Not long ago, she shared the thoughts she had before taking up the coveted role.
"After Ivan Lendl, who was much better than me, I didn't see what I could bring to Andy Murray as a coach. I had the impression that I had a lot of responsibility and that I didn't have the right to make mistakes. If I screwed up, all women would screw up with me," she said.