Serena Williams has been defended by her coach Rennae Stubbs after being heavily criticised on her return to Wimbledon.
Williams drew criticism at Wimbledon for cancelling her press conference after her first round singles match against Maya Joint, which she lost.
Greg Rusedski called out Williams for not speaking to the media following the defeat, but it later arose that a knee injury excluded her from such duties.
Williams was defended by Novak Djokovic at the time, with Stubbs now hitting back at her critics because of the severity of her injury.
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Rennae Stubbs hits back at ‘clowns’ criticising Serena Williams at Wimbledon
Having worked with Williams on her dramatic Wimbledon comeback, the coach said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast: “The thing that bothered me the most is that I would argue and say that most players and most coaches and most people who are really students of the game and really understand what it takes to do what Serena did the other day were all blown away by how well she played, by how well she handled the moment.
“They couldn’t believe it. Andy Roddick said on his podcast ‘I cannot imagine taking three-and-a-half years off and stepping onto Centre Court at Wimbledon to play my first match in singles. I would play a Challenger warm-up at least.’
“This is where her mind is different. Let me tell you, every single time, she gets nervous before every match.
“So think about being a nervous person, even as every player is, and to be able to take the pressure of what she did and the expectation of what are we going to see and go out there and display the tennis, the shot making, the tenacity and the serving with not a lot of preparation.
“Certainly no matches under her belt for three and a half years. It was phenomenal. Now it’s very public what happened to the knee.
“It was incredibly painful for her. Afterwards she posted the amount of fluid that she drained from her knee.
“That was not the case going on to the court. A lot of people were saying ‘was she injured before?’ No! She tweaked it in the latter part of the first set.
“And if you go and watch the match she is rubbing her legs constantly on every changeover, which if you have ever watched a Serena Williams match, she does not do that. That was a concern for us [in the box].
“I thought her legs were going in the third but she said I actually felt great, it was just the knee. She just could not adjust to certain balls behind her.
“Then you had people out there saying ‘she could not even move’, ‘she is not in shape’ and it’s so hard not to defend somebody when you see someone you know and see what they are dealing with on the pain threshold and the effort she still put in for the public and her fans and everyone out there.
“It really did p— me off and it’s really hard not to reply to some of these absolute clowns on the internet. It actually made me think about the way I would talk about any sports athlete that I see now and say ‘you know what, we don’t know everything’.
“Then there was ‘she didn’t come to press, typical’. I was like if you saw her after the match you would know exactly why she did not go to press.
“I am quite certain she would have loved to go into press and thank the tournament for giving the wildcard, she would have spoken about the joy of being on the court again.
“But she was in tremendous pain when she came off the court, she was not going to go to a press conference.
“The Club and the doctors were very adamant about how she did not need to go. Everyone saw how much pain she was in.”
It’s a passionate response from Stubbs, who clearly knows Williams better than most others do thanks to their time together on and off the court.
What do you think of Serena Williams not speaking to the media at Wimbledon now you know the full story?
What is next for Serena Williams after Wimbledon heartache?
Williams was clearly in a lot of pain after her Wimbledon singles match against Joint, who won 6-3, 6-7(6-8), 6-3.
Notably, the injury had a major impact on her other plans for the Grand Slam, with Williams forced to pull out of the doubles event.
She had committed to playing alongside her sister Venus Williams, but failed to recover in time for their opener against Solana Sierra and Camila Osorio.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for the 23-time Grand Slam champion, who should definitely be proud of her efforts at the age of 44.
But one possibility for her continued WTA Tour comeback is an appearance at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season.
The home favorite would be welcomed with open arms by fans in New York, where Williams could remarkably play singles, doubles and even mixed doubles.
Playing in all three events would really test the veteran, particularly given her knee issue at Wimbledon, but the tournament would undoubtedly adore such a decision.
