Alex De Minaur‘s latest win at Roland Garros has left Australian fans dancing with joy. His victory at Roland Garros over fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev came in terrible weather and admittedly not de Minaur’s best surface. But a misrepresentation by Tennis Channel after his win was not received well by Serena Williams’ former coach, Rennae Stubbs. She publicly criticized the channel for a significant error in their reporting and requested them to correct it.
de Minaur’s triumph over Daniil Medvedev marked him as the first Australian male player to reach the French Open quarterfinals since 2004. Despite losing the first set, the 25-year-old made an impressive comeback, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 and marching to the Quarter Finals. However, the Tennis Channel mistakenly omitted the word ‘male’ in their coverage, inaccurately claiming he was the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt to achieve this feat.
This oversight did not sit well with Stubbs, a former Australian tennis star herself, who quickly pointed out the error. Taking to Twitter, Rennae congratulated De Minaur on his victory but also called out the Tennis Channel for their mistake. She highlighted that Samantha Stosur, an Australian female player, had reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals multiple times since 2004.
“HUGE congrats to @alexdeminaur so happy for you mate!!! LFG! BUT @TennisChannel Demon is the first Aussie MALE since Hewitt. If you recall @bambamsam30 did this a whole lot of times after 2004. Like finals, semis, etc. So can we please get those graphics right. Thanks!,” she tweeted.
Samantha Stosur represented Australia at Roland Garros from 2004 to 2019, advancing to and beyond the quarterfinals four times. She reached the semifinals of the tournament in 2009, 2012, and 2016. She was also the runner-up in 2010, which she considers her best performance at the tournament. “Obviously being in the final, even though I didn’t win, was a highlight of my career. It’s fantastic to be in a Grand Slam final,” Samantha shared in an interview once.
This isn’t the first time Rennae Stubbs has addressed such issues. She has consistently called out disparities in men’s and women’s tennis, highlighting instances of discrimination.
Rennae Stubbs has been vocal about alleged disparities
In early 2023, Rennae Stubbs had once before called out Tennis Channel over issues related to commentators. During the simultaneously played Qatar Open and ABN AMRO Open in 2023, Stubbs pointed out double standards in reporting. Taking to her social media, she noted that while the finals of the Women’s Qatar Open had only one commentator, the men’s semifinal at ABN AMRO had two. A similar scenario was observed at the Men’s Argentina Open, which also featured two commentators.
Stubbs also criticized the mispronunciation of women’s players’ names by umpires. She pointed out that Barbora Krejcikova’s name was pronounced incorrectly during the Qatar Open in Doha by the umpire during her match against Veronika Kudermetova.
Rennae Stubbs’ persistent advocacy highlights ongoing issues of gender disparity in tennis coverage. As for the ongoing French Open, it will be interesting to see if Alex De Minaur can continue his momentum and win his first Grand Slam.
