Rennae Stubbs just short of her 40th birthday is enjoying a career of semi-retirement from professional tennis. Stubbs the longest serving member of the Australian Federation Cup team has made her professional tennis mark as a doubles specialist. Over her twenty year career on the tour she has chalked up sixty tournament wins, including six grand slam doubles titles. Stubbs made history this year by becoming only the fourth player in World Team Tennis history to be on five Championship teams. Stubbs participated as the co-captain on the Washington Kastles. The team was the first in WTT’s 36 year history to have an undefeated season. Rennae’s tennis career is not over but as she winds down she’s been shifting into a new role as a t.v. commentator.
This is part 1 of a 4 part interview with Rennae that spans her starting out as a tour player, training on the road, goals, players who mentored her, the challenges of life on the tour, career transition, and advice for parents and players thinking of about a career as a professional athlete.
SZ: It was kind of you to offer Sloane Stephens, (rising young American tennis player), encouragement after losing her match this afternoon.
RS: For me it always translated better when it came from a peer rather than a coach because you see a coach as a coach but you don’t see a coach as a peer unless of course if you’re being coached by someone who’s been there and done that. When I heard it from peers I was a little bit more receptive. It sunk in more.
SZ: Early on you played doubles with Helena Sukova?
RS: Yes, I won my first WTA event with Helena.
SZ: Did it help you recognize your talent as a player that she asked you to play as her doubles partner?
RS: Of course. I felt like I could lean on somebody out there, because I felt she could sort of get me through something that I didn’t understand and I could sort of lean on her or sort of feel like you’re just running behind them, and they are going to clear the air for you a bit and make it easier.
SZ: So you trusted her.
RS: When you are playing with someone who’s achieved so much you just think it’s routine for them and if I just sort of do what I’m doing, she’ll tell me if I’m not doing it right. Then I’ll know I’m not doing it right. Whereas if she is encouraging me then I’m
probably doing something right. So you just sort of keep doing your thing.
SZ: You have an enviable professional career doubles record. Did you envision yourself as a career doubles player?
RS: I sort of felt before I even walked on the court with Helena for the first tournament that she felt I was worthy to be out there. It’s a funny story. I had played against Helena in Tokyo and I guess she saw something in me that there was potential to be a pretty decent partner. She she came up to me and asked if I would be interested in playing in Osaka the following week. I mean when she asked I instantly thought to myself, “Oh my god no way that’s too much pressure.” I didn’t have any plans to go to Osaka so my instant reaction was, “No, I’m not playing there.” But inside I think it was more like, “Helena Sukova just asked me to play doubles and I’m not ready for that.” I don’t think I was mentally ready for it. About twenty minutes went by and I was sitting with myself going, “What the hell have I done? What am I joking one of the best doubles players that have ever played the game has just asked me to play a doubles event. So I went “Okay this is my chance, take it.” I remember walking back and saying to her, “Helena have you found a partner for Osaka?” She said, “No.” So I told her I would go and play with her and we ended up winning the tournament.
SZ: Fate and Destiny?
RS: I think in some respects I would have been a good player eventually anyway because I felt like I had the skill. But I think that everything happens for a reason and I think my sort of taking the bull by the horns and saying, “yes” in the end and taking the responsibility that if we didn’t win the tournament it would be my fault. That’s how I felt. If we don’t win the tournament it’s 100% because of me. I’m the one that sucks between the two of us. That’s what you think when you’re young and you haven’t achieved anything. So when we won it I was pretty pleased.
SZ: Was there more pressure going forward?
RS: No because the next tournament I won was with Steffi Graf in Germany. So that’s pressure! Basically I learned that the secret to doubles is picking people who are much better than you. That’s the secret.
SZ: Is there a bit of humbleness going on?
RS: No. I always say pick someone as good as you or better.
SZ: Does it motivate you to show up?
RS: I think when I was younger of course when Steffi asked me to play the doubles event in Hamburg, again I said, “No.” Playing with Steffi in Germany, even though we were friends I was still like, that’s pressure. I was playing club tennis for her club in Germany at the time and really needed to be back for a match on Saturday. It was a match against a rival club team and she said, “Don’t worry you’ll be back for the semis because we play, Jana Novotna and her partner second round, so we will lose.” These were Steffi’s words, “So we will be out of the tournament and you’ll be back in time to play the club match.” So we win our first round and end up upsetting Jana Novotna and her partner in the second round. I went back and played the club match near Frankfurt and then flew back to Hamburg in the same week. I played the semi-final club match which we won then I told Steffi she had to tell the guy I was playing for at her club, that ended up being her manager, that I can’t get back to play the big club rival final and it’s her fault because we were in the finals of the tournament. Steffi and I ended up winning the tournament.
SZ: You have an amazing career record of winning 60 doubles titles, 6 of them grand slams. Many people have no idea how incredible your doubles record has been over the years yet ninety-seven percent of people who come to watch professional tournaments are social recreational players who play doubles. As you shift into your burgeoning career as a t.v. commentator do you envision making doubles a premiere part of your broadcasting future?
RS: Most people watch singles because they see these players on t.v. and in print media. People who follow tennis know who I am and sort of know what I’ve done through the years. Certainly when I played with Lisa Raymond or Cara Black we loved going to events like San Diego, and Eastbourne and different events around the world that really appreciated who we were as a doubles team. The audience would share with us how much they loved watching us play and that’s sort of one of the reasons you keep playing, because the people really appreciate what you do and they can’t believe the shots you can make because they play doubles.
Doubles is a different game. Even Serena Williams has said to me when we were playing WTT, she wasn’t returning very well one night and she said, “Returning in doubles is so much harder than in singles.” So you know there are things about doubles that are much more difficult than in singles. The physicality in singles is obviously more difficult because you are essentially covering the whole court and you are out there by yourself. Doubles is tactically much more difficult than singles. Anticipation, having the courage to move at net on balls that are just sitting there. The timing and ability to take a ball quickly out of the air, and there’s obviously the precision in returning serve. If you look at where a opponent is standing at the net there’s only a few spots in the court where you can hit a clean winner. That would be a perfect return down the line which is over the highest part of the net which is difficult to do. Or a clean winner inside out and then you’ve got to get past the volleyer so it’s very precise. Doubles is a very different game than singles. I don’t think it’s explained to people enough how difficult it is. As Serena said it’s so much harder to return in doubles because in singles you can hit the return of serve back into the middle of the court. In doubles the middle of the court is the worst shot. So it will be nice to promote and educate to help people understand how difficult it is to do what the really good doubles players do.
SZ: Did you have an idea you would be involved in doubles for your professional career or were you hoping to be more involved in singles?
RS: I don’t think any player starts out thinking they are going to make their living playing doubles. I was always a better doubles player. I played a lot of doubles as a kid in team events in Australia. The weekends were filled up with a lot of doubles for me. I think it just lends itself to my nature, my game and it just came naturally. Singles I had to really work on. Then I got some pretty bad injuries that affected me. When I came back and trying to qualify for singles events I was always doing well in doubles so the problem was I couldn’t really go and play qualifying at some of the events for singles. So that’s another reason why some players only go into doubles because they are making money doing it that way and then they have to forfeit essentially doing well in doubles to go and play a qualifying event in singles. That becomes difficult because the player ends up giving up a guaranteed decent pay check to go and possibly get another one in singles. It’s hard because you are paying your own way and I had bills to pay. I was on my own so those decisions you make over time. I mean I didn’t quit playing singles until I was 29 so I played a long time but it was hard for me because I was always doing so well in doubles. I had to make a decision and when I did it was when I really started to excel in doubles.
Tomorrow, Rennae reflects on training on the road, goals, players who mentored her.
Featured guests are not former nor current clients of Susan Zaro
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