Serena Williams’ incredible success was not only down to her technical prowess but also her strong mentality. Her former coach, Rennae Stubbs, can attest to it, claiming that no one holds a “grudge for revenge” more than the American star, a view Serena agrees with.
In a conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin from the New York Times, Williams reflected on Stubbs’ comments, admitting that this mindset extended beyond the tennis court. “That’s across everything that I do,” she added.
The former World No.1 stated that it worked well for her because she made it a personal mission to never repeat her mistakes. Serena believes every loss has taught her a new lesson, helping her shape into the person she is today.
“Obviously, that was my big thing in tennis, like I never wanted to lose. But unfortunately, I think when you do lose you learn some of your biggest lessons. Every loss that I had, I kind of needed that to actually become Serena Williams or I would have never been this person had I not taken some of those really hard falls.”
Despite not having coached Serena for a long time, Stubbs was able to identify this trait in her pupil. Speaking on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis podcast last month, the 53-year-old Australian said that Novak Djokovic is the closest to this particular mentality in the men’s game.
“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. It was always about, ‘it’s never going to happen again’.”
Stubbs, who coached Serena in her final Grand Slam (2022 US Open), covered a wide range of topics on the podcast, including the American’s standout victory over Maria Sharapova at the 2012 Olympics. The 53-year-old labeled it as the “greatest match” she had ever seen of Serena.
Williams recorded one of the most dominant runs in Olympic history
Williams was in the form of her life during the 2012 season, particularly on the grass court. She won Wimbledon, dropping merely two sets in the tournament. However, she found a way to elevate her game even more during the Olympics merely a month later.
During the 2012 London Games, Serena dominated the competition without dropping a single set. None of the six opponents won more than three games in any set or more than five games in an entire match. She saved her best for the final, recording a 6-0, 6-1 win over Sharapova.
“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 spoke about the match.
Beating the five-time Grand Slam champion is no small feat, but doing so while losing only one game in the gold medal match is truly remarkable. It’s not surprising that Stubbs picked this game over all the other matches Serena has played!
