‘Novak Djokovic maybe – but no one held a grudge more than Serena Williams’, says American’s ex-coach
Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams
Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs has asserted that no players “held a grudge for revenge” more than the American legend.
Stubbs, a former doubles world No 1, shared an anecdote from Williams’ victory over Maria Sharapova in the 2012 Olympic final to illustrate her point.
Williams delivered a devastating performance to steamroll Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 in the gold medal match at the 2012 London Olympics, which was staged at Wimbledon’s All England Club.
Eight years earlier, a 17-year-old Sharapova stunned Williams 6-1, 6-4 in the 2004 Wimbledon final to win her maiden Grand Slam title on the same court.
After that shock Wimbledon defeat, Williams lost just one more match to Sharapova and finished with an incredible 20-2 record against her Russian rival — winning the last 19 encounters. The 23-time major champion won 41 of the 48 sets the pair contested.
Speaking on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis podcast, Stubbs named Williams’ display in the 2012 Olympics final as the tennis icon’s greatest ever performance.
“Actually, the greatest match I ever saw Serena Williams play, and I saw her play a lot of great tennis, was the finals of the Olympics in London against Sharapova,” Stubbs said.
“I was doing the commentary with Mary Carillo, and Maria had a great serve out wide. I remember, it was like a big serve, like 115 [mph] or something, and Serena literally turned her shoulders and just crushed a forehand down the line at about 120 [mph], going back down the line.
“And where we sit in the booth at Wimbledon is right on court level, and I just looked at Mary Carillo and I just couldn’t. Sometimes there were just no words.
“I’ve never seen anyone play better than that match. It was like the loss that she did have against Maria years ago on that court [in 2004], it entered her body and she said, ‘Not today’.”
Stubbs named Novak Djokovic as the player in men’s tennis who is closest to Williams’ approach when it comes to holding a grudge, but argued the American stands alone in this regard.
“I think on the men’s side I would say that Novak maybe, but I think there was no one who held a grudge for revenge more than Serena Williams, which is one of the reasons why she was so great, because she was never into complacency,” she added.
“It was always about, ‘it’s never going to happen again’.”
