"Nothing trash about it" - Rennae Stubbs defends her opinion on Novak Djokovic's snub from sportsmanship award
The ATP recently announced its nominees for the 2022 Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, with Novak Djokovic a noteworthy exclusion from a list that included the likes of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
The Serb's snub did not sit well with his fans, with many of them taking to social media to express their displeasure.
When former doubles No. 1 Rennae Stubbs opined that his exclusion was justified, one fan called her approach "trash." The fan also pointed out that Venus Williams never won the award. Stubbs responded by saying she believes Williams should have won the award but could not say the same about Djokovic.
"Yeah & if u knew anything about me, you would know i have for many many many years said publicly that Venus should have been giving this award!! But you don’t know me or listen to my words on tv OR my podcast. My comment was he doesn’t deserve this award, period! Nothing trash about it," Stubbs tweeted.
@Prelude2Life @Martina @ElkNat877 @Rahfucious @RottenKnee77 @jon_wertheim @ATP @atptour @DKTNNS @PHShriver @ChrissieEvert @DjokerNole Yeah & if u knew anything about me u would know i have for many many many years said publicly that Venus should have been giving this award!! But u dont know me or listen to my words on tv OR my podcast. My comment was he doesn’t deserve this award, period! Nothing trash about it
Tennis icon Martina Navratilova chimed in, also opining that Williams should have won the award.
"Venus should have won the award and I would have voted for her had I been asked to vote. She is as good as it gets in the tennis court. Not sure why she didn’t win. Fair enough…" Navratilova wrote.
@Prelude2Life @rennaestubbs @ElkNat877 @Rahfucious @RottenKnee77 @jon_wertheim @ATP @atptour @DKTNNS @PHShriver @ChrissieEvert @DjokerNole Venus should have won the award and I would have voted for her had i been asked to vote. She is as good as it gets in the tennis court. Not sure why she didn’t win. Fair enough…
"Novak Djokovic is not a great sport on court" - Rennae Stubbs
Rennae Stubbs had earlier sided with the ATP's decision not to include Novak Djokovic on the list of nominees for the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
The Australian opined that the Serb was not a great sport on the court, listing reasons for the same.
"Nothing to do with that. Novak is not a great sport on court: he’s been defaulted, broken racquets, etcetera, among other things," Stubbs wrote.
The Australian accepted that the 21-time Grand Slam champion was a gracious loser but pointed out that the award wasn't for that.
"He’s absolutely a gracious loser, I’ll give him that, but this award is for sportsmanship on and off court. So don’t make this about anything but that," she stated.
"He also has outbursts on court! Smashed the net at the French Open, threw his racquet that almost hit a ball kid in Serbia. I could go on, but it’s pointless with you stans! You see gold toilets with your heroes!" she added.
Djokovic has never won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.