Mirra Andreeva beating Iga Swiatek with Conchita Martinez in Indian Wells box draws strong reaction from Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs

Mirra Andreeva has created a massive buzz following her remarkable victory against Iga Swiatek at Indian Wells. The teenager making strides with coach Conchita Martinez in her player’s box has drawn a strongly worded reaction from Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs.

On Friday, March 14, Andreeva stunned Swiatek for the second time within a month at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Before her 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3 win in the semifinals, she crushed the Pole 6-3, 6-3, in their quarterfinal in Dubai.

Iga Swiatek, the defending champion, was bidding for her third title at the tournament after attaining glory in 2022 and 2024. Notably, she appeared unbeatable en route to the final four, crushing tough opponents such as Caroline Garcia (6-2, 6-0), Dayana Yastremska (6-0, 6-2), Karolina Muchova (6-1, 6-1), and Zheng Qinwen (6-3, 6-3).

Mirra Andreeva, meanwhile, has extended her winning streak to 11 matches, having built on her momentum from her maiden WTA 1000 win in Dubai. At Indian Wells, she secured straight-set wins against Varvara Gracheva (7-5, 6-4), Clara Tauson (6-3, 6-0), Elena Rybakina (6-1, 6-2), and Elina Svitolina (7-5, 6-3), before edging out Swiatek in the semifinal.

Andreeva's success at such a young age under the aegis of coach Conchita Martinez has been nothing short of extraordinary. After the 1994 Wimbledon champion joined Mirra Andreeva’s camp in mid-2024, the teenager has reached the semifinals of the French Open, won her career’s first two titles, and cracked the world’s top 10.

Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs took note of the achievements and issued a firm response on X:

"I guess women CAN coach!" she wrote after Mirra Andreeva beat Iga Swiatek in their Indian Wells semifinal.

Martinez has famously coached former World No. 1s Garbine Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova in the past. She also briefly guided Czech player Marie Bouzkova before accepting Mirra Andreeva's offer.

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Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs had made her feelings clear about Iga Swiatek hiring Wim Fissette before remark on Mirra Andreeva

Swiatek failed to end her nine-month long title drought with new coach Wim Fissette by her side at Indian Wells 2025 - Image Source: Getty

Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs has been very vocal about the lack of women coaches on the WTA tour. Only a handful of tennis players, such as Mirra Andreeva, Marta Kostyuk, Donna Vekic, and Anna Kalinskaya, presently have women coaches as part of their teams.

When Iga Swiatek hired Wim Fissette as her next coach after parting ways with Tomasz Wiktorowski in October 2024, Stubbs wasn’t too pleased. Fissette, who’s had brief stints with Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber, and Zheng Qinwen, among others, accepted the role soon after Naomi Osaka ended their partnership after failing to make on-court progress.

"I mean, are we surprised by this (Iga Swiatek hiring Fissette)? Again this is not a slight on Wim Fissette, I want to get that straight. The fact that these men just fail up, it just makes me laugh. I’m not saying fail like failed, but they get fired and then they get picked up in one week to work with somebody else," Rennae Stubbs said about Iga Swiatek’s decision on her podcast.

Stubbs was also highly critical of Osaka moving on to Patrick Mouratoglou, widely known for his work with Serena Williams and controversial partnership with Simona Halep, that ended in a doping suspension.

"Any good coach would’ve made Serena Williams, I’m sorry, a better player. They would’ve,” she said at the time. "I mean, he arguably has f**ked up Simona Halep’s life with these allegations. I don’t know, I’d be a little wary of having people around me that had those credentials."

Stubbs, herself, boasts a rich resume, having coached the likes of Karolina Pliskova, Samantha Stosur, and Eugenie Bouchard. Her most recent stint was coaching Serena Williams during her final tournament—the 2022 US Open.