
via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 17, 2021 Jennifer Brady of the U.S. reacts during her quarter final match against Jessica Pegula of the U.S. REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake

via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 17, 2021 Jennifer Brady of the U.S. reacts during her quarter final match against Jessica Pegula of the U.S. REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
Ball boys and girls are some of the most important parts of a tennis match. It is a good position for many young and aspiring players as they can witness professional players at their best. Many aspiring players worked as ball kids. But there is no scenario to date where a player or coach becomes a ball kid later – except when Rennae Stubbs, the former coach of Serena Williams, decided to change things up as she donned the role of a ball girl.
Stubbs became a ball kid for a Washington Open match featuring Jennifer Brady. She came back to tour after a two-year absence. In a great piece of news for her fans, Brady won her first match with great panache. She quickly dispatched Anhelina Kalinina and moved on to round two, supported by Stubbs.
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Serena Williams’ former coach dons a new role
Ball kids are one of the most important gears in ensuring smooth match proceedings. Without them, the court would be a mess. Recently, the match between Jennifer Brady and Madison Keys was moved to the Stadium court due to lighting issues. However, during the change, the ball kids could not make it over in time.
To help the match continue and stand in their stead till they arrived, Rennae Stubbs decided to don the role for a little while. A video of her new position was shared by Tennis One on their Instagram story. Stubbs was standing with utmost attention in case the player on her side required a ball.
Along with the clip, they also added the caption, “@jenbrady7 vs @madisonkeys moved to Stadium after some lighting issues… ball kids hadn’t made it over yet, so @rennaestubbs was ready to step in 😂”.

via Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Women’s Singles Final – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Jennifer Brady of the U.S. in action during her final match against Japan’s Naomi Osaka REUTERS/Loren Elliott
While this became a rare case of an established coach working as a ball person, many established stars used to work as ball boy.
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Rennae Stubbs was originally at the venue to support Jennifer Brady, who is on a comeback.
Jennifer Brady’s comeback comes to an end
Although Brady was on a sparkling comeback to tour, she could not keep the momentum going. In the second round of the Washington Open, she faced Madison Keys in the second round and could not emerge victorious. The current number 7 easily dispatched Brady and bageled her in the second set. However, all is not lost.
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The player who was on hiatus for two years would need some time to get used to the tour again. Currently, she is only focusing on returning to her previous form.
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