"These guys are pu**ies" - Serena Williams' ex-coach slams players for complaining about hot Australian Open conditions

Serena Williams' former coach, Rennae Stubbs, recently criticized players for complaining about the hot conditions at the Australian Open. The 2025 Melbourne Major is set to take place from January 6 to January 26, 2025.

Australia experiences hot and humid weather in January, which is the peak of summer, and the temperatures can range from mild to very hot. In response to this, the Extreme Heat Policy (EHP) was introduced for the Australian Open in 1998 and was first implemented in 2019.

Stubbs, an Australian and former tennis player and coach, recently spoke about the 2025 Australian Open on her podcast, The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. She criticized players for complaining about the heat and mentioned that the favorite to win this year's Melbourne Major is defending champion Jannik Sinner.“

Jannik Sinner, overwhelming favorite at the Australia Open,” Stubbs said. [30:06 onwards]

Andrea Petkovic also chimed in, stating that she also believes that Sinner will win the first Grand Slam of the year. She noted that Sinner used to struggle at the Australian Open, but since getting in better physical shape, he has adapted well to the tournament as well as to the high temperatures.

“For me too. The Australian Open is made for him, in terms of surface, in terms of balls. I think he used to struggle there before he got incredibly physically fit and in shape but now even the temperature doesn’t seem to affect him. The only thing I see is that, if we have a 42° type of day in Melbourne with the dry heat, he can turn a little ginger in his face as well as his hair,” Petkovic added.

Stubbs highlighted the EHP, which allows the organizers to close the roof in extreme heat conditions to cool down the stadium. She expressed that modern players are not as resilient to heat as they used to be and are "weak."

“Like if it’s that hot, they just close the roof mate. These guys are pu*sies. Let’s face it, these guys are weak. When I woke up and we saw it was going to be 42°, we were like, ‘End for Americans. That’s like 110°,’” Rennae Stubbs continued.

Rennae Stubbs recalled a match she played at the Australian Open where the weather was so scorching hot that she prayed for it to end quickly.

“I’ll never forget playing one match there that I played and I remember walking out of the locker room, outside because of course downstairs had air conditioning and then you go out to play the match. I remember saying to myself, sitting down, taking my racket out of my bag and I literally said, ‘Dear God, please help me today.’ It was so hot. Thank God that I won that match in straight sets but I’ll never forget that I sat down and went, ‘Please God, please God, please God.’ It was so hot,” Stubbs said.

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When players like Novak Djokovic & Gael Monfils complained about the hot Australian Open conditions

Novak Djokovic at the 2018 Australian Open [Source: Getty]

During the 2018 Australian Open, numerous players voiced their concerns regarding the extreme heat and challenging playing conditions. Among them was Novak Djokovic, who, following his second-round match against Gael Monfils, described the conditions as "brutal."

Djokovic stated that playing in such harsh conditions not only takes a toll on players physically but also mentally.

“One of the toughest ones. The conditions were brutal, that's for sure . I mean, we both struggled. When you're facing such conditions, obviously it affects you mentally, as well," Djokovic said during the post match press conference.

Gael Monfils said:

“It was tough with the tough condition. It was really warm. It was tough to breathe . Yeah, I think it was the hardest I have."

Garbine Muguruza had also complained about the heat following her loss to Hsieh Su-wei in the second round.

“It's blisters at the end. I think the surface of the court, I don't know how much heat, it's terrible, very, very hot, and it's easy to get blister and red," Muguruza said.

In 2018, Novak Djokovic reached the fourth round at the Australian Open before falling to Chung Hyeon.