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.

Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, is already a co-owner of a professional women’s soccer league and plans to organize the 776 Invitational, a female-only track event in September 2024. The millionaire co-founder of Reddit became interested in women’s track and field last year and contacted Olympic medalist Gabby Thomas. He also announced that his venture capital firm, Seven Seven Six, would sponsor the 776 Invitational.

The invitational aims to become the premier women’s track event and guarantees a safe space for women of color. Besides Douglas, the Summer Games’ medal candidate, British sprinter Annie Tagoe is also listed in the Invitational. Hence, when the English athlete recently updated fans on her setback, it drew instant worry from Ohanian.

Annie Tagoe, an athlete and IMG model, last won a bronze medal with her 4x100m relay team at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Tagoe made headlines this year by committing to Alexis Ohanian’s 776 Invitational, despite dealing with knee issues and arthritis in the past. Today, she posted an update on X with the caption, “I got diagnosed with tendinitis in my hamstring & achilles in December and it’s so annoying so days I can run and some days I can’t even walk. Track is so ugh.” To which Ohanian was quick to comment, “Get well soon.”

The individualism of athletics provides no safety net when the trapdoor of injury opens. Tagoe is well aware that the emotional aspect of recovery is frequently considerably more difficult than the physical strains to which athletes can get used. Over the last decade, she has had surgery on both knees and gotten regular injections for her ankle arthritis. Tagoe experienced injuries to both knees that prevented her from running for several years and necessitated surgery in 2014 and 2015.

Aryna Sabalenka got off to a flying start in her seventh appearance at the French Open! She defeated Russia’s Erika Andreeva comfortably by a 6-1,6-2 margin in just 68 minutes in her first-round match. With this victory, the Belarusian tennis star has now extended her Grand Slam winning streak to eight matches. She has now made it a habit of reaching the SF in the Grand Slam. But can she go a step further on Parisian soil? If she somehow manages to clinch the title here in Paris, then she’d become the first woman to win the AO & French Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2015.

Serena Williams has three French Open titles in her career. Her third title came in 2015 when she defeated the former tennis player from the Czech Republic, Lucie Safarova by 6-3,6(2)-7,6-2 in the finals. Aryna Sabalenka has always idolized Williams and wanted to follow in her footsteps. There are multiple such examples when she matched the records of ‘Queen of the Court’ with her incredible performances. But at the moment she isn’t too bothered with all these stats. Recently during her post-match interview in Paris, she was asked to reflect on her thoughts of equaling Serena Williams’ record.

To this Sabalenka replied, “I mean I know it and now probably it’s going to be in the back of my mind. I’m kidding (laughs). Uh, I’m just trying to you know separate myself from all these facts. And I mean I know that if I’ll be able to focus on myself and I’ll be able to fight for every point and try to find a solution in each game, I’ll 3be able to win these big tournaments.” She further went on to add, “But you know like I just try to take it step by step.”

There have been multiple such instances when Aryna Sabalenka matched Serena Williams’ feat in the past. In 2023, she had a win-loss record of 22-2 at the Grand Slam events. As per Opta, only Serena Williams (2009 & 2015) and Jennifer Capriati (2001) had won more from their first twenty-four Grand Slam matches of the season in this century. She was also the first female player to make it to the semis in five consecutive Grand Slam appearances (US Open 2022-US Open 2023) since Williams (10).

Even this year, Aryna Sabalenka became only the fifth player in the women’s tour to win the Grand Slam title in Australia without dropping a set. Serena Williams did it in 2017. Even last year she faced a similar question in Rome and here’s what she said in her reply to comparison with Williams.

Aryna Sabalenka wants to get as close as she can with Serena Williams

Both the tennis stars are prime examples of supreme power play on the court. Serena Williams used to generate a lot of power in her returns and her serves were equally powerful. Even Aryna Sabalenka has some real venom in her shots. Reflecting on this similar style of play, she was once asked to reflect her thoughts on this.

Sabalenka was a bit surprised by this comparison but later on, she went on to add, “I don’t know. I don’t think about that. That sounds good, you know (smiling)? I don’t know. I’m not thinking about that, I’m not focusing on that. I’m just focusing on improving myself and getting better every day.“

She said this sounds a bit “crazy” and went on to say, “I’m doing everything I can to get closer not like to her but to my dream. I’m working really hard. I’m trying to stay focused on every match, every tournament.” Aryna Sabalenka has been putting in a lot of hard work this year on the clay courts. Currently, she has a win-loss record of 12-3 on clay. Do you think she can really match Serena Williams’ record in Paris this year?

Danielle Collins is gearing up to go head-to-head with Olga Danilović. After advancing through the qualifiers, the Serbian tennis player is set to face the American in the second round of Roland Garros. Before that match, she is basking in the glory of her first-round victory, while also finding amusement in a tennis meme featuring Serena Williams and the current world number one, Iga Swiatek.

As the first round of the French Open is over, a tennis meme is going around on the internet talking about those players who have never been defeated in the first round of any major event. The post had a picture of Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Iga Swiatek, and the 23-year-old tennis player herself.

Danilović captioned the post with laughing emojis, “,” as Williams and Swiatek looked distressed in the picture. She was quite amused to find out that she shares a stage with some of the biggest players, in this one particular aspect.

However, even though she might have never faced defeat in the first round, her second-round competition at the French Open will be tough. Despite announcing her retirement at the end of the current season, the thirty-year-old Collins is having one of her best touring seasons. This year, Collins has claimed victory over Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari, and Elena Rybakina, three players ranked in the top ten.

She has also pushed Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, the current top players, to some of their hardest matches of the year.

Moreover, earlier this month, the Miami Open champion joined the 42-year-old American tennis legend as she became the second American to pull a maverick WTA-1000 level feat at the Italian Open.

Danielle Collins pulled a Serena Williams-like feat this season 

Following back-to-back victories in Miami and Charleston, the American tennis player had progressed to the Italian Open semifinals. With this accomplishment, the 30-year-old athlete joined her fellow countrywoman and tennis legend Serena Williams on the prestigious “WTA-1000” list.

Surprisingly, she became the second American player on the tour to accomplish this uncommon WTA-1000 clay and hard court feat, following Serena Williams. She became the oldest player to win 15 straight WTA tour matches since Serena Williams did so in 2015.

Sachia Vickery’s tennis dreams were ignited at a young age. Inspired by watching Serena and Venus Williams dominate on television, Vickery boldly declared to her mother, Paula Liverpool, at just 5 and a half years old that she was destined to become the “next Serena Williams.” From that moment on, tennis became Vickery’s life goal, setting her on a path to chase greatness. However, the young Sachia faced various financial obstacles that hindered her dream of becoming a successful tennis player. Amid the bleakness came sunshine through Williams sisters’ father, King Richard. 

Sachia Vickery, a former USTA junior national champion, showed signs of prowess on-court early on in her career. However, struggles with finances tried to pull her down. She once admitted, “I was stuck for a while at that 150 kind of ranking for a few years, so it’s definitely a big hurdle for me to get a break into the top hundred.” But Sachia Vickery, who once trained at the IMG Academy, found a step closer to her dream when she started taking coaching from Serena Williams’ father in Miami.

Richard Willams, renowned for guiding his daughters to success, helped Vickery push her limits to the maximum. Describing her experience, she once stated, “I used to train with [him] when I was younger and he’s a really good mentor. I see him occasionally. Because I live in Florida and sometimes I go down there to practice with him. Just occasionally. But I haven’t seen him in a while.”

Juggling responsibilities, Paula Liverpool, a paralegal and flight attendant with a background in high school track from her native Guyana, dedicated herself to raising Sachia as a single mom and nurturing her tennis dreams. Their journey began on public courts, and by the time Vickery turned 12, her talent secured her a spot at the prestigious Patrick Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France. There, Sachia Vickery trained herself for many years.

Eventually, after reaching a career-high ITF Junior ranking of No. 6 in the world, she turned pro in 2011. However, her financial challenges did not end. As she herself admitted, “At that point, everything you make goes right back into your career.” But even amid everything, Vickery showed promising results. And this made her receive compliments from ‘King Richard’ himself, further inspiring her to be better on-court.

Richard Williams, who was impressed by little Vickery’s performance, that once in 2008, he told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that she is “the next Venus or Serena on the way.”  Rightly so, the Florida-born tennis pro soon broke barriers in tennis, just like her former coach Richard’s daughters Serena and Venus Williams’ did. How? Her tremendous progress in tennis made her one of the most prominent American women tennis players in the world. And Vickery enjoyed the comparisons as well.

She once said, “It’s great to be compared with Serena obviously. She’s like the greatest of all-time.” However, she further added, “She’s the reason I started playing tennis. I don’t even think I deserve to be mentioned in the same category as her. I’m just going to worry about being me first.” As she progresses toward her upcoming tournament, the valuable lessons that she learned from Richard Williams will always push her to earn more success on-court.

Be it winning 19 of the 31 matches played against her own sister, or winning 23 grand slams throughout her career, Serena Williams hits with her racquet, she is a force to be reckoned with. Even off-court, she has stood as a pillar of strength for women of color and various backgrounds by supporting and including them in her own ventures. However, Serena Williams still manages to entertain the audience through pranks and posting them on her social media accounts. Nevertheless, Venus Williams’ recent candid revelation about her sister’s playful and fierce nature sheds light on a different side of their off-court relationship.

Williams sisters recently participated as guests in a French reality show. The official account of “qofficiel” posted a short video on their Instagram that highlights the part where each of the sisters defines the other one. When the host asked Venus Williams, she said, “Oh the pressure, she’s a little sister but very protective, very loyal.” Nevertheless, her next statement underscored one of Serena Williams’ lighthearted side.

“She’s like you know a prankster. She likes to do pranks. So she’s like very tricky.” Serena Williams’ pranks have indeed been a subject of laughter for all of us in the past. Venus has herself been a victim of that too. Among many incidents, a notable one happened during the COVID lockdown period. While both sisters planned to do a virtual workout session, the younger one found a perfect opportunity to prank her elder sister.

She placed a doll in her position and kept her older sister waiting for her on the video call. After a while, when it was time for Williams to arrive, she jumped in front of the camera and startled Venus Williams. The former tennis champion, shocked at first, eventually laughed at this hilarious event. However, apart from being a prankster, Venus also added, “And I think she’s the most fearless people I have ever met.”

We have all witnessed Williams’ fearless demeanor on-court, especially how she utilizes her “firepower” to take immediate control of her opponent. Venus Williams, who has firsthand experience of Williams’ on-court prowess, once admitted, “She was such a fearless player on the court and I always admired that”. Well, there’s been an instance where Serena’s prank didn’t quite land.

Even Serena’s pranks sometimes miss the mark!

Last year, the 42-year-old tennis legend pulled off a prank with her family as well. But this time it did not include her sister but her husband Alexis Ohanian and her then-5-year-old daughter, Olympia. Her plan was clear. While recording the TikTok video, she explained, “So I’ve been placing fake cockroaches around the house. It’s so funny. Let’s see what happens.”

Unfortunately, unlike her other pranks, this did not extract a scared reaction from any of them. Although he managed to distract Alexis Ohanian for a bit, little Olympia remained oblivious to the whole event. At the end of the video, Serena concluded by saying, “So…I need a better prank. ‘Cause no one fell for it.”

Serena Williams and Kelly Rowland’s friendship has left their fans rolling on the floor laughing. Rowland might support her famous former tennis star friend at her worst but that doesn’t mean she won’t unleash her sarcasm on her. As the duo engages in a laughable banter, their fans get to see a beautiful friendship blooming.

Williams, who has been quite regular on social media, recently surprised her fans by posting a clip of her on Instagram. In this clip, fans spotted the Olympic gold medalist star stretching on the tennis court and showing her incredible fitness. Not to forget her sunkissed look by WYN Beauty cosmetics that made Serena extravagantly gorgeous in the video. “I like staying limber. One never knows when you need to pop into a split while keeping a fresh face. @wyn”- captioned the former world’s number-one WTA star.

However, more than Serena Williams’s incredible fitness, her friend and famous singer Kelly Rowland’s sarcastic take on the post has stormed the internet, giving fans a true moment of laughter seeing their amazing friendship. While Serena was on a spree to showcase her fitness after delivering a baby, Rowland’s one-word comment “lol” on the post presented their funny banter.

Fans might remember Williams’s funny plea for “Help” after eating many tacos and not being able to fit into her Valentino denim skirt. Seeing her recent Instagram post, fans felt motivated as Williams showcased a toned body within three months of this situation. Nevertheless, Rowland’s comment showed that Serena Williams might be a celebrity to her fans but to her friends, she is a subject of light-hearted banter.

While Rowland made a sarcastic response to the post, she on the other hand always spoke highly of her friend to the media. Now, famous singer and songwriter Kelly Rowland has been friends with the world’s former number-one WTA star for a long. During the promotion of Love by the 10th Date, Rowland spoke about meeting Williams for the first time in a concert. “It was all of her energy and how great she was—and is, She is the best athlete of our time—yes, but because she’s female, the best female athlete of our time. I’m so proud of her, and so excited for her!”- said Rowland.

While Rowland never compromised to cheer Serena Williams on her ventures, the former WTA star also responded to Rowland’s friendship with equal love.

Serena Williams gives sisterhood vibes while promoting Kelly Rowland’s project

This Olympic gold-medalist former WTA star promoted Rowland’s Netflix show Mea Culpa on her official Instagram profile. Sharing Rowland’s photo from the show on the platform, Williams wrote- “ok sis @kellyrowland.” After this, it was hardly difficult for Williams’s fans to understand her lovely equation with Kelly Rowland. Not only that but Williams presented her amazing baking skills but bringing self-made cinnamon rolls for Rowland in a surprise visit post-retirement. The duo brought their fans an amazing sight of friendship to behold.

Kelly Rowland’s comment on Serena Williams’s post showcases a beautiful friendship between two iconic females. Rowland and Williams’s bond helps people see how strong women lift each other no matter what.

On Tuesday, Serena Williams shook the tennis world with an exciting career update. The 23-Grand-Slam Champion tweeted, “I’m ready to hit some balls again.” While further information on the subject still remains a mystery, the post has created a new sense of enthusiasm in the sporting community. Patrick McEnroe, the former tennis pro and John McEnroe’s brother, is also not immune to it, as he reflected on the possibilities of the event recently.

On May 23, the “SportsWrap with Jason Page” podcast host, Jason Page, sat down for an interview with the former U.S. Davis Cup captain, Patrick McEnroe. When the conversation drifted to the women’s tennis part, Page asked McEnroe about the recent headlines made by Serena Williams through her cryptic post. McEnroe explained his thoughts on the matter in a hopeful, yet practical manner.

“While she’s hosting the ESPYs. Right. So that’s, that’s big. I saw that announcement. That’s usually right after Wimbledon,” McEnroe began his statement. “So you know, she’s a two kids now. I’ll never say never. I mean, there’s only one Serena. So we’d love to see your comeback,” he stated further.

As rightly pointed out by McEnroe, Serena Williams is debuting as a host in the 32nd edition of the ESPY Awards this July, a place where she earned 12 awards herself. While this journey is indeed special, McEnroe also hinted at the other aspect of the story. Williams, who retired in 2022, stated her desire to expand her family as the reason for her retirement. The mother of Olympia and Adira, Williams, once admitted, “I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals, and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena.”

Weighing all of this, along with the required fitness to make a comeback, McEnroe further stated the impracticality of the situation. “I don’t think it’s gonna happen. I mean, if she wants to do it, but you know, it would take take a tremendous amount of work, right, you know, for her to get back in shape and in a match shape and all that. So, you know, I don’t see it happening,” McEnroe concluded. However, according to Williams, her reign in tennis is not over yet.

Serena Williams announced back in 2022 that she wants to “evolve away from tennis.” But, interestingly, her U.S. Open match after the announcement was not confirmed as her official retirement match. However, she received lavish tributes before each match in that tournament. And later that year, Serena Williams admitted, “I am not retired,” during a press conference in San Francisco while promoting Serena Ventures.

She further added, “The chances (of a return) are very high. You can come to my house, I have a court. I still haven’t really thought about (retirement).”  While Serena Williams continues to surprise fans in her own unique ways, one thing is clear. Be it on-court or off-court, her legacy will remain untouched forever, irrespective of whether she returns to the court or not.

Serena Williams is back with another surprise! It has been a long while since the tennis star hung her racket for good. While she’s mostly seen involved with her family and the multiple collaborations and investments, it seems like she’s ready to take a break from the schedule and switch back to the same old legendary road.

The fans who actively follow Serena Williams on different social media platforms are aware of the depth she visits in sharing her inner thoughts. While the former pro also loves dropping hints about her endeavors, she recently presented a new one, this time, gathering the interest of tennis fans. In a recent post on X, the legend revealed the fact that she’s, “ready to hit some balls again”.

While fans couldn’t find anything else but the surprising statement, the reasoning behind it remains a mystery. It could be something related to an upcoming commercial, or maybe a wish to revisit the tennis courts as a player. Other than that, there could be plenty of other possibilities like hitting the courts with her sister Venus Williams, like she used to do in the golden days, or maybe something else?

This is a developing story…