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Serena Williams' former coach, Renae Stubbs, recently applauded Elena Rybakina and Sloane Stephens as they lifted the Stuttgart Open and the Open de Rouen respectively.
On Sunday, Sloane Stephens won the 2024 Open de Rouen by defeating Polish player Magda Linette in the final with scores of 6-1, 2-6, 6-2. En route to the final, she defeated the likes of Peyton Stearns, Karolína Plíškova, Yue Yuan, and Caroline Garcia.
Also in Germany, Elena Rybakina defeated Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Stuttgart Open. She had previously eliminated world No.1 and 2023 champion Iga Swiatek in the semi-final on Saturday, and in the preceding rounds, she defeated Veronika Kudermetova and Jasmine Paolini.
After their matches on Sunday, Renae Stubbs congratulated them via her X (formerly Twitter) account. She applauded Sloane Stephens' talent and said that it was nice to see Sloane Stephens back in the winner's circle. The Open de Rouen is the American's eighth career title and also her first title since winning the Abierto Zapopan Open in 2022.
“Congrats to @elenarybakina and @SloaneStephens ! Nice to see Sloane back in the winners circle, a talent that has way more to win!” Stubbs said
Stubbs also added that it was great to see Elena Rybakina finally win a tournament without an injury or getting sick. Back in February, Rybakina got injured mid-match while facing Iga Swiatek in the Qatar Open's final, and in March, she withdrew from the Miami Open due to illness. Stubbs concluded by saying their respective title wins will be a great confidence booster for them.
“And nice to see Elena finally gets through a tournament without an injury or getting sick. Both will be super confident now the rest of the season.” Stubbs said
The Stuttgart Open is now the Belarusian's third title of the season, having initially won the Brisbane International and the Abu Dhabi Open.
Elena Rybakina and Sloane Stephens will both participate in the 2024 Madrid Open
Both Elena Rybakina and Sloane Stephens are expected to compete in the 2024 Madrid Open.
Stephens will be kicking off her Madrid Open campaign by facing Italy's Martina Trevisan in the first round on Tuesday (April 23), while Rybakina, who is seeded No. 4, had a bye and will be playing her second-round match on Friday (April 26).
Last season, Stephens was knocked out in the first round of the Madrid Open by Jaqueline Adina Cristian; however, her best record at the tournament came in 2019 when she reached the semifinals before Kiki Bertens eliminated her. On the other hand, Rybakina has never gone beyond the second round of the Madrid Open. Last season, she was knocked out in the second round by Anna Kalinskaya.
