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Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs recently put Novak Djokovic's efforts to clinch 10 Australian Open titles on par with Rafael Nadal's feat of winning the French Open 14 times. She made the claim on the latest episode of her podcast, hosting Andrea Petkovic, the former WTA No. 9.
Djokovic and Nadal have dominated the courts at Melbourne Park and Roland Garros, respectively, in the last two decades. While the Serb won the Melbourne major in 2008, 2011-13, 2015-16, 2019-21, and 2023, the Spaniard did it at the Paris major in 2005-08, 2010-14, 2017-20, and 2022.
Nadal can no longer improve his already legendary French Open tally as he retired in November this year but the Serb can certainly better his record in Australia. He will step onto the Melbourne hardcourt with the renewed energy of former rival Andy Murray, who joined his contingent as a coach.
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On an episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs, who coached Serena Williams during the 2022 US Open, expressed her excitement for the new pairing.
"I'm looking forward to actually seeing how this Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray situation is going to pan out," Stubbs said [at 32:00]. "Think about the fact that Novak, the greatest player of all time, the amount of Grand Slams he’s won, tournaments he’s won, did not win one tournament last [this] year but the Olympics."
She continued:
"Obviously, we know that’s the tournament [Australian Open] that he plays his best tennis, he plays great everywhere, but he’s won that 10 times which is outrageous. The only person you can talk about in the same category is Rafa winning 14 French Opens.
"But the fact that he’s won 10 Australian Opens, which I would argue it might even be as impressive if not… I probably can’t say more impressive because 14 in French Open is outrageous but everybody plays pretty well on hardcourts."
Andrea Petkovic chimed in, saying:
"Everybody comes the freshest from the off-season."
Rennae Stubbs supports her Novak Djokovic claim: "Everyone really can play on hardcourt"
On the same episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Rennae Stubbs supported her Novak Djokovic claim by suggesting that the competition is tougher on hardcourts as compared to on clay.
She opined that one-third of the tour players don't thrive on the dirt, meaning Rafael Nadal faced less capable opposition at Roland Garros than the Serb did in Melbourne.
"I mean no American can play on clay, they can’t even slide," Stubbs said [at 33:57]. "So you’re ruling out like 30 percent of the people or even Australians, the people who grow up playing on hardcourts, barely don’t even know what they’re doing on clay whereas everyone really can play on hardcourt. Even the Europeans go indoors on hardcourt."
The next Australian Open will begin on January 12, 2025, and Djokovic will go into the main draw looking to add another Grand Slam to his tally.
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