“Stop with the nonsense” – Serena Williams’ ex-coach shuts down claims of Coco Gauff intentionally ‘tanking’ to eliminate Iga Swiatek from WTA Finals
Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs has firmly refuted claims that Coco Gauff plotted to eliminate Iga Swiatek from the 2024 WTA Finals. Stubbs explained why the allegations of Gauff deliberately losing to Barbora Krejcikova were baseless.
Swiatek recently fell short of defending her title at the WTA Finals, failing to reach the semifinals while Gauff clinched her maiden crown at the year-end championships. The American produced a stellar run in Riyadh, beating Jessica Pegula and the Pole to seal her spot in the final four.
Although Iga Swiatek triumphed over Barbora Krejcikova and Daria Kasatkina in the group stage, her semifinal hopes depended on Gauff beating the Czech in the final round-robin match. However, the American suffered a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Krejcikova, which knocked Swiatek out of the tournament.
Coco Gauff’s loss prompted fans to accuse the World No. 3 of “tanking” the match to prevent the Pole from progressing to the semifinals. However, Rennae Stubbs has dismissed such claims, arguing that it would be illogical for the American to intentionally set up a tougher semifinal clash with Aryna Sabalenka by losing to Krejcikova.
Speaking on the latest episode of the ‘Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast,’ the Australian pointed out that Gauff had more to gain by going undefeated in the tournament, as it would have entitled her to a bonus amount on top of her historic prize money of $4.8 million.
“Somebody wrote about, ‘Coco tanked the match against Krejcikova so Iga couldn’t get through to the semifinals.’ No, that’s not how it works. First of all, Coco says, ‘I’m going to lose to Krejcikova and then have the possibility of playing Krejcikova again or I’ve already beaten Iga and now if I lose to Krejcikova then I get to play Sabalenka in the semis. Yeah!'” Stubbs said.
