Stefanos Tsitsipas put "women as second-class citizens" with his past views, opines Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs

Serena Williams' former coach, Rennae Stubbs, and Racquet magazine founder, Caitlin Thompson, recently dissected Stefanos Tsitsipas' exploits on and off the court. While Stubbs was apprehensive of the Greek's comments regarding gender roles, Thompson expressed intrigue in his online persona.

Tsitsipas had an underwhelming campaign on the ATP Tour last year. He failed to win a title and ended the year outside the top 10 for the first time since 2018. The 26-year-old has followed in the same vein this year, dropping three of his last five tour-level outings. His low point came during a first-round exit at this year's Australian Open, where he lost to USA's Alex Michelsen in four sets.

The Greek's social media activity was as dubious as his on-court form last year. The World No. 11 copped criticism from the tennis community on X last June, when he posted a story emphasizing that men should be the 'providers', and that women must find their place as 'homemakers'.

Against that background, Rennae Stubbs and Caitlin Thompson fielded questions from a fan on the latest episode of the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast regarding their perception of Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Stubbs, a successful former pro-turned-coach, expressed disappointment in the former World No. 3 endorsing such conservative views about women.

"I wish he hadn't said the things he said about certain things couple of years ago," Rennae Stubbs said. "Basically, putting women as second class citizens essentially. So I'm just like, 'Wake up, we're in the 21st century.'"

Caitlin Thompson, meanwhile, offered a different take to that given by Serena Williams' former coach.

"I love Tsitsipas, I will go down defending this guy. Maybe it's past the point of no return for him," Caitlin Thompson said. "Until he keeps holding a racquet, I will always root for this guy. I just love his game, I love his weird, emo soul. I love his fake quotes on social media. I love the whole package. He's just a weirdo who I love."

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"Dude, you write some crazy stuff on Twitter but this one takes the cake!" - When Rennae Stubbs criticized Stefanos Tsitsipas for 'modern feminism' take

Stefanos Tsitsipas hits a forehand (Source: Getty)

For those unaware, Stefanos Tsitsipas had a run-in with Rennae Stubbs on X over his interpretation of 'modern feminism' in 2022. Tsitsipas had engaged with the infamous motivational speaker Iman Gadzhi's diatribe against feminism back then, claiming that modern feminism was akin to a cult.

"Modern feminism has swerved from gender equality into a cult of outrage that seeks to disparage men. How is that fair?" Stefanos Tsitsipas wrote in his reply to Iman Gadzhi on X two years ago.

Stubbs shot Tsitsipas down with her reply, insisting that he was out of depth in this topic.

"Dude, you write some crazy stuff on Twitter but this one takes the cake! Do you understand how unequal women STILL have it in this world?" Rennae Stubbs wrote in her reply to Tsitsipas.

In a separate post in the thread, the former World No. 3 also claimed that he didn't "believe in patriarchy."

"I don’t believe in patriarchy. Equality and unity is the solution to everything," Tsitsipas wrote.

Stefanos Tsistipas, meanwhile, will be looking to make plenty of amends for his poor run in 2025 thus far at the Dubai Tennis Championships, which begins in February 2024.