{"id":4992,"date":"2026-07-04T20:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4992"},"modified":"2026-07-04T20:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T20:08:21","slug":"serena-williams-coach-tells-ap-nerves-and-a-closed-roof-were-factors-in-wimbledon-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=4992","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams\u2019 coach tells AP nerves and a closed roof were factors in Wimbledon loss"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Looking back, it seems perfectly understandable that it took Serena Williams some time to settle her nerves in her first singles match in nearly four years.<\/p>\n

Read more Morocco beats World Cup co-host Canada 3-0 and advances to the quarterfinals<\/a><\/p>\n

Rennae Stubbs, one of Williams\u2019 coaches, pin-pointed a moment about an hour into the 44-year-old\u2019s defeat to an opponent less than half her age earlier this week at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI noticed in the middle of the second set her take a big sort of deep breath and I actually turned around to Venus and said, \u2018Oh I think she just relaxed,\u2019\u201d Stubbs said, referring to Serena\u2019s older sister.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, Stubbs also revealed that she first started coaching Williams again in March and immediately noticed that the 23-time Grand Slam champion could still play.<\/p>\n

Williams was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 by 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

While the result on the court was a loss, the reaction in the locker room from other players and coaches was a resounding victory, according to Stubbs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know what it would be like to be in that position of not playing a match for close to four years, going on Centre Court at Wimbledon, knowing there\u2019s how many millions of people around the world watching this match,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cThere\u2019s 15,000 people in Centre Court. They expect good tennis. They expect you to not embarrass yourself. So all the players know, to a small degree, what it must be like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The match set ratings records on ESPN and Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic are among the players who have publicly complimented Williams for her performance.<\/p>\n

Williams injured her right knee toward the end of the first set against Joint and withdrew from her doubles match with Venus on Saturday.<\/p>\n

An Instagram update from Serena included images of four syringes that she said \u201cshows the fluid they drained from my knee after my singles match.\u201d An accompanying video showed her walking with strapping up and down her right leg and what appeared to be one of her daughters holding a cane for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news is my knee shouldn\u2019t swell or collect that much fluid again,\u201d Serena said. \u201cThe bad news is that, as hard as I tried, I just wasn\u2019t able to get it ready for doubles.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, with the U.S. Open approaching, Serena indicated she could play again somewhere else soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I can say,\u201d Serena said, \u201cis stay tuned to a city near you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right attitude<\/h3>\n

Serena became known for her emotional outbursts and run-ins with chair umpires and linesjudges toward the end of her career.<\/p>\n

So Stubbs was concerned about her on-court behavior during her comeback.<\/p>\n

But Williams maintained her composure from start to finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was sort of like the one sort of thing that I asked, is that she try and \u2014 as hard as it was going to be \u2014 to control her emotions and her nerves and all that sort of stuff,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cI don\u2019t think people even remotely can quantify the amount of pressure that was on her to walk out there and do what she did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Negative reactions<\/h3>\n

Stubbs was disappointed, though, to see negative reactions to Williams\u2019 return on social media. She was also criticized for skipping her post-match duties \u2013 since the injury was not announced until a day later.<\/p>\n

Stubbs herself was also criticized on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t understand why people feel the need to tear somebody down,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cWhat she\u2019s doing out there is trying to play a sport she loves. That\u2019s what it\u2019s about. Show the kids, be out there, enjoy it and give the people another look at playing. \u2026 What is wrong on with a seven-time Wimbledon champion \u2014 a 23-time Grand Slam champion \u2014 wanting to play another time at Wimbledon? God let her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams planned to play more<\/h3>\n

While Williams played two doubles matches before Wimbledon, she hadn\u2019t played singles since the 2022 U.S. Open.<\/p>\n

Read more Home field advantage has been a big part of World Cup history. Now Mexico hosts England<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally would we have loved to have had warm-up matches? Yes,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cAnd for anyone to insinuate that she didn\u2019t want to do that is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem was that Williams wanted to get the feeling of being back on the court first in two doubles tournaments. But after winning in the first round at Queen\u2019s Club with partner Victoria Mboko, the pair had to withdraw when Mboko was injured playing singles.<\/p>\n

Then Williams and partner Karolina Muchova lost in the first round at the Berlin Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would venture to say that if she\u2019d had four or five more doubles matches, she would have even been better because she would\u2019ve had that experience of feeling the big points and hitting the big returns on break point and hitting the serves big,\u201d Stubbs said.<\/p>\n

Closed roof<\/h3>\n

Because the match started late in the day and there were concerns about darkness, the roof over Centre Court was closed for the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was hitting the ball so well in practice and moving really well and the conditions were very different indoors,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cThey were heavy. Her ball wasn\u2019t shooting through the court like it was outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being away for so long, Williams still hit serves beyond 120 mph and showed off her heavy groundstrokes that landed within inches of the baseline.<\/p>\n

The only real issue was her movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re great, you\u2019re great,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cWhen you have great timing, you always have great timing. I saw that from the moment I stepped back on court with her. I was like, \u2018Well, you never lost that.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then it\u2019s just getting the movement going and getting the body going and all that sort of stuff again and at a certain age you also have to monitor the workload. So what I saw out there didn\u2019t surprise me at all, because I had been seeing it for months: The capacity to hit the ball as well as she\u2019s always hit the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gang back together<\/h3>\n

Stubbs, an Australian who won six Grand Slam titles in women\u2019s doubles and mixed doubles, also coached Williams in her previous farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open.<\/p>\n

Now based in New York, Stubbs first went down to Florida to start coaching Williams again in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was already hitting before that, but that\u2019s when she was like, \u2018OK, I need the eyeballs I trust on me,\u2019\u201d Stubbs said.<\/p>\n

Serena also brought back her longtime hitting partner, Jarmere Jenkins, who co-coaches her with Stubbs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known Serena since she was a kid,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cJarmere knows her very, very well. Derick (Pierson), her fitness guy, is one of her best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/h3>\n

While Williams indicated in her injury post that she would play again, her team is still awaiting details.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not just going to do a one-off,\u201d Stubbs said. \u201cI think she would like to play more but that is 100% her decision. \u2026 I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll re-evaluate and reassess how she wants go forward and then we\u2019ll be there for her either way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more England faces Mexico at \u2018monster\u2019 stadium where El Tri has yet to concede a goal at this World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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