Serena Williams takes on Rennae Stubbs as her coach for 2022 US Open
Serena Williams has joined forces with Rennae Stubbs, taking on the former doubles World No. 1 as her coach for the upcoming US Open, which is set to be the final Grand Slam of her illustrious career.
The 40-year-old will make her last attempt at equalling Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slams in New York as she's announced her decision to retire from the sport after the Major.
During Williams' practice session at the Arthur Ashe Stadium alongside World No. 3 Maria Sakarri, Stubbs - a four-time Grand Slam doubles champion - was spotted in her coaching team offering advice to the veteran. The pair also sat down later and were seen having a serious conversation after the session.
The 51-year-old Australian is not new to coaching, having previously worked with Karolina Pliskova, Samantha Stosur and Eugenie Bouchard.
Omg two of my favorites partnering for the #USOpen ! @rennaestubbs is coaching the GOAT @serenawilliams. Let’s gooooooooo!! https://t.co/s6CgeIbG1y
Williams and her long-time coach Patrick Mouratoglou parted ways earlier this year, with the latter now joining forces with Simona Halep.
Since her comeback at the Eastbourne International and the Wimbledon Championships, she has been coached by Eric Hechtman, her sister Venus Williams' coach since 2019. He is a former University of Miami tennis player and a longtime director at the Royal Palm Tennis Club in Miami.
Quick US Open Serena Notes:
• Partnering with Rennae Stubbs as her coach/advisor
• Played a practice set with Maria Sakkari this morning
Stubbs encouraged her to play sets versus top opponents this week instead of a hitting partner to get her used to match play.
"Now, for the first time in my entire life, I'm choosing to do something" - Serena Williams on her plans post-retirement
Serena Williams is eagerly looking forward to life post-retirement as she will, for the first time, have the freedom to pick and choose what she wants to pursue.
Speaking to Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, on an episode of the Archetypes podcast, Williams stated her excitement at doing different things once she hangs up her racquet. While she was glad that tennis was thrust upon her, she stated that she was equally happy to enter the next chapter of her life.
"Tennis was chosen for me and I loved that choice and I couldn't have made a better choice, right? So I was really happy that that happened," she said.
"But now, for the first time in my entire life, I'm choosing to do something. And it's hard because it's like. It's something I've actually never done. I’ve always done something different, and I've always enjoyed it so much. But I'm making a different choice and one, you know, to stop doing what I love and to have, hopefully, have more kids and to, and to focus on other things and to do more with, you know, other stuff that I want to do," she added.
Williams has previously revealed that she wants to have another kid with her husband Alexis Ohanian, besides concentrating on her venture capital firm 'Serena Ventures', a San Francisco-based company founded in 2014.