{"id":78560,"date":"2025-08-19T20:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T20:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/78560\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T20:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T20:27:08","slug":"serena-williams-former-coach-proposes-major-change-to-tennis-after-bonkers-decision-angered-us-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/78560\/","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams’ former coach proposes major change to tennis after bonkers decision angered US Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former world number one Renae Stubbs believes tennis ‘needs’ a commissioner after the decision to play the Cincinnati Masters final on a Monday.<\/p>\n

Jannik Sinner<\/a> and Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> were poised to do battle for a fourth time this year in the final.<\/p>\n

\"Alcaraz<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Alcaraz consoled Sinner after the Cincinnati final endedCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

However, what was set to become yet another enthralling battle between the two ended in sad fashion<\/a> as Sinner retired before the first set was even complete.<\/p>\n

“I’m super, super sorry to disappoint you,” Sinner told the crowd in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

“From yesterday I didn’t feel great. I thought I would improve during the night. It came up worse.<\/p>\n

“I tried to come out and make it at least a small match but I couldn’t handle more. I’m very, very sorry for all of you.”<\/p>\n

For Alcaraz, the short match means he will be far fresher than he perhaps anticipated for the revamped US Open mixed doubles<\/a>, where he will partner up with close pal Emma Raducanu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, Sinner’s retirement from Cincinnati has placed his participation in the event alongside Katerina Siniakova in serious doubt.<\/p>\n

What was Renae Stubbs’ verdict on the Cincinnati Masters scheduling?<\/p>\n

Regardless of the outcome in Cincinnati, Stubbs, a six-time grand slam champion in women’s and mixed doubles, blasted the decision to schedule a final of a major event so close to the start of the US Open<\/a> mixed doubles.<\/p>\n

The 54-year-old, who previously coached tennis great Serena Williams<\/a>, also felt the tight scheduling would not have pleased US Open organisers either.<\/p>\n

“A Monday final is just ABSOLUTELY BONKERS,” Stubbs wrote on X.<\/p>\n

“@atptour @WTA I’m sure the @usopen isn’t happy about it either.<\/p>\n

\"Stubbs<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Stubbs (left) couldn’t believe how tight the turnaround was from Cincinnati to New YorkCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

“Detracting from fan week and possibly the mixed doubles tournament they’ve put a lot of money into and that fans have paid to see with those names.<\/p>\n

“Tennis really needs a commish!”<\/p>\n

As Stubbs noted, the US Open has poured a significant amount of funds into the mixed doubles in a bid to attract more fans.<\/p>\n

Last year, winning duo Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori pocketed just $200,000 (\u00a3150,000).<\/p>\n

That figure has been bumped up significantly, with the victors of this year’s event set to take home $1m (\u00a3750,000).<\/p>\n

To put that into context, the prize money for the winning duo is more than a men’s or women’s player in the singles draw would get for reaching the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n

\"Alcaraz<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Alcaraz will be fit and fresh for the US Open mixed doublesCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Sinner, if he is fit, and Siniakova will begin their US Open mixed doubles campaign against Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic on Tuesday at Louis Armstrong Stadium.<\/p>\n

As for Alcaraz and Raducanu, they face top-seeded pairing Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former world number one Renae Stubbs believes tennis ‘needs’ a commissioner after the decision to play the Cincinnati…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[870,40022,811,40024,1172,40020,101,118,872,56,54,55,1232,6545,10302,40023,40021],"class_list":["post-78560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-cincinnati-masters-final","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-jannik-sinner-injured","tag-latest","tag-renae-stubbs","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-updates","tag-us-open","tag-us-open-mixed-doubles","tag-us-open-mixed-doubles-partners","tag-us-open-mixed-doubles-prize-money"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}