"I’m really trying hard to promote this sport, could you help me out here?" - Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs upset with WTA website outage

Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs recently expressed her displeasure with the WTA website outage due to maintenance.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) website was temporarily unavailable on Tuesday, October 3, due to “essential maintenance”, according to a message displayed on the homepage.

The WTA website is the official source of information and news for women’s tennis, featuring rankings, live scores, player profiles, tournament draws, and more. The website outage meant that fans and media could not access these features and had to rely on other sources or social media for updates.

Former doubles World No. 1 Stubbs complained about the situation on X ( formerly Twitter), saying that she was trying hard to promote the sport but the WTA was not helping her. She posted a screenshot of the WTA homepage with the maintenance message and wrote:

"@WTA I’m really trying hard to promote this sport! Could you help me out here!?"

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Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs backs Elena Rybakina after she criticizes WTA over performance byes in Tokyo

Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs recently supported Elena Rybakina after she voiced her dissatisfaction with the WTA’s way of making decisions following the draw for the 2023 Toray Pan Pacific Open.

The WTA 500 event in Japan announced its draw on September 23, with Iga Swiatek, the World No. 2, as the top seed and Rybakina as the third seed. However, while Swiatek received a first-round bye, Rybakina did not.

On the other hand, Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia, who are ranked and seeded below Rybakina, got a bye in the first round. This was because they performed well at the recently concluded Guadalajara Open.

Rybakina was displeased with the decision and shared her opinion on social media.

"Performance bye. Thank you for changing the rules last moment. Great decisions as always @wta," she wrote on her Instagram stories.

Stubbs took to X (formerly Twitter) to support Rybakina, saying that players should have the freedom to decide which tournaments they participate in.

"I agree 100% with Rybakina! You pick your own schedule. You know what you’re risking, seeds should not be hurt for not playing the tournament the week before. @wta," she said in a post on X.

Rybakina later withdrew from the event, citing health and fitness reasons.

"I'm really sorry to have to withdraw from Tokyo this year. I was really looking forward to playing the event and I love the city. I have to prioritise my health and fitness and need time to get to 100 per cent health," Elena Rybakina's statement read.

Rennae Stubbs joined Serena Williams as an on-court advisor during her last Grand Slam tournament at the 2022 US Open.