"Should've never allowed" - Serena Williams' ex-coach issues apology amid claims of her podcast co-host's 'pure hate' towards Iga Swiatek

Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs has come out in defense of her podcast after her co-host, Caitlin Thompson's remarks about Iga Swiatek were alleged to be highly disparaging. While some of Swiatek's fans believed that the situation also doesn't reflect well on the Aussie, Stubbs insisted that the World No. 1 has always had her support.

Iga Swiatek displayed red-hot form during her French Open title defense this year. She saved a match point in her second-round encounter with Naomi Osaka and didn't drop a single set in her next five matches, winning her fifth Major title in style.

To discuss the Pole's dominance on the WTA Tour, Rennae Stubbs invited her long-time associate Caitlin Thompson on "The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast". While Stubbs praised the 23-year-old, her co-host made various comments about Swiatek's appearance and her relationship with peers that have been called out as irrelevant and hateful.

"She was similarly not glamorous. She was similarly, definitely not a locker room favorite," Thompson said. "Ego seems way more beloved than this one was. Also wore a hat and obscured her face. Also had some kind of spectrumy, strange interaction with other people on the tour."

Many fans of Iga Swiatek targeted Thompson on X over her remarks about the Pole.

"She’s just won her 5th GS….and all we have here is pure hate, biases and stereotypes..what a shame…what a misery…." one fan said.

Serena Williams' former coach has stated that she doesn't subscribe to the notion that the World No. 1 is unsociable as implied by her co-host. She replied to one of the above fan's similar posts on X,

"As u know & have heard i am a huge fan & also friend of Igas & those words are not a reflection of me or my feelings of her as a player or person. I should have never allowed those comments to be said about her on my pod. So appreciate if you would take this post down like i have."

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"Iga Swiatek is such a great mover on clay... reminds me of Steffi Graf & Arantxa Sanchez Vicario" - Rennae Stubbs

Rennae Stubbs showered praise on Iga Swiatek following her Madrid Open triumph in May.

Iga Swiatek poses with the 2024 French Open trophy

The 53-year-old claimed on her podcast that Swiatek showed good movement on clay, comparing her to legends like Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

"Iga Swiatek is such a great mover on clay," Stubbs said. "She is so good on clay, she reminds me of Arantxa Sanchez and Steffi Graf and the great claycourt movers, where you know they can get a ball that not many can, because they can just glide to the shot."

Stubbs also praised the World No. 1's groundstrokes, claiming that their trajectories put her opponents out of position from the baseline.

"And her flighting ability on open stance on her forehand and her backhand is outrageously crazy. It's unbelievable. It forces women to make the most impossible shot."