Serena Williams' ex-coach and former multiple Grand Slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs was left "confused" by some of the mistakes made by Aryna Sabalenka during the Emma Raducanu match.
Playing against Raducanu in the Cincinnati third round, Sabalenka delivered her usual aggressive style of tennis. And while the 27-year-old Belarusian fired 46 winners, she also sprayed a stunning 72 unforced errors. However, the top seed still somehow found a way to scrape past an inspired Raducanu 7-6 (3) 4-6 7-6 (5) after three hours and nine minutes of play.
Stubbs, who watched the match, couldn't believe some of the errors that came off the Belarusian's racket. And it seemingly wasn't the first time it happened.
"The errors that Sabalenka makes sometimes is just so confusing," the former doubles No. 1 wrote on X.
The errors that Sabalenka makes sometimes is just so confusing.
— Rennae Stubbs ♈️ (@rennaestubbs) August 11, 2025
Stubbs defends her Sabalenka statement
One fan seemingly wasn't a big fan of the take and responded to the take by bluntly asking: "Maybe because Emma is playing so well? Could be that."
However, Stubbs had a response ready, highlighting the person in question: "Unforced errors. Easy balls. Very different than when someone that’s forcing you into them."
Unforced errors. Easy balls. Very different than when someone that’s forcing you into them.
— Rennae Stubbs ♈️ (@rennaestubbs) August 11, 2025
After surviving the major Raducanu test, Sabalenka was the first to acknowledge that it was brutal for her out there – she praised the Briton's level and also admitted that she would need at least a day to recover from the grueling contest.
Luckily for the 27-year-old Belarusian, she got her wish fulfilled since she has a day off on Tuesday and will return to the court on Wednesday to take on Spanish tennis player Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the Cincinnati round-of-16.
