"How is this possible!!??" - Serena Williams' ex-coach furious at ATP over Jannik Sinner's 3 a.m. finish at Paris Masters

Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs recently expressed her displeasure with a marquee match at the 2023 Paris Masters finishing late, while also calling for a potential merger between ATP and WTA.

On Tuesday (November 1), the Round-of-32 encounter between Jannik Sinner and Mackenzie McDonald in Paris-Bercy went the distance. The American World No. 42 was the first player to draw blood during the contest, taking the first set in a tiebreaker that lasted nearly an hour.

Although McDonald was playing some of his best tennis, Jannik Sinner stayed resilient in the second set to keep the match on serve. The Italian eventually broke his opponent in the 11th game to take the set 7-5. The fourth seed then dominated his lower-ranked player in the deciding set, completing a 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-1 victory in two hours and 18 minutes.

The second-round match finished at nearly 3 a.m. CET, which didn't sit well with Rennae Stubbs — who was Serena Williams' coach during her last tournament campaign at the 2022 US Open.

The former player-turned-coach expressed her disappointment with ATP's scheduling in a post on X (formerly Twitter), insisting that a match on the fast indoor hardcourts of Paris-Bercy shouldn't ideally have such a late finish.

"Finishing at almost 3 am at a masters 1000!!!! WTH @atptour!!! What is happening? It’s indoors!!!! How is this possible!!?????" she wrote.

The Aussie also called for a change in leadership on both the ATP and the WTA tours in her diatribe, while suggesting a potential merger between the two governing bodies for better decision-making. She wrote:

"Man, I think it’s time someone took over the ATP AND @WTA tours! Anyone out there that thinks they could do this better??? Join tours!??"

Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, will face 13th-seeded Alex de Minaur for a place in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Paris Masters.

The idea of ATP-WTA merger was first introduced by Roger Federer and Serena Williams

Roger Federer and Serena Williams pose for a selfie during a mixed doubles match at the 2019 Hopman Cup

The discourse surrounding a merger between the ATP and WTA first began in 2020, when tennis legends Roger Federer and Serena Williams wondered whether men's and women's tennis could be "united".

"Just wondering…..am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?" the Swiss wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle in April 2020.

Serena Williams was quick to respond to Federer's suggestion in a since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter). The 23-time Major winner inferred back then that the ATP-WTA merger idea had been conceived by both her and the Swiss maestro.

“Ummm that was confidential and not supposed to be shared yet," the American wrote, followed by a shocked emoji.

The ATP-WTA merger debate was rehashed again last month after Yuri Polsky, Kazakhstan Tennis Federation's Vice President, revealed to the Russian tabloid Championat that the women's organization was nearing bankruptcy.

"They are in a very bad place and could even go bankrupt in 2026 or 2027 if their financial situation doesn't change. For the WTA it is a matter of survival, for the ATP-a matter of reputation. [ATP leadership] doesn't want them to collapse because the optics would be bad. The ATP is in good financial shape, the tour has reserves, the players have retirement funds."