“They are paying the price now” – Serena Williams’ ex-coach critical of American tennis players skipping Paris Olympics

Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs spoke of the American tennis players who did not compete at the Paris Olympics. The Aussie said that some of them were “paying the price” for their absence, as they did not do well in Cincinnati.

Pegula, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul all competed at the Paris Olympics. However, the likes of Madison Keys, Frances Tiafoe and Sebastian Korda did not compete at the quadrennial event.

Rennae Stubbs spoke about the impact of missing the Olympics on a recent episode of her podcast, “The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast,” saying that a few American players who did not compete at the Olympics were “paying the price a little bit” since they did not fare well at the Cincinnati Open.

“A lot of tennis players, Americans, they didn’t go to the Olympics. I have to say they are all paying the price a little bit now because none of them have done well in Cincinnati. A lot pulled out of the tournament in Canada as well,” the Aussie said.

The Cincinnati Open was not a particularly impressive tournament for American tennis players, as only three of them managed to reach the singles semifinals.

Frances Tiafoe and Jessica Pegula both reached the final of their singles tournaments before losing to Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, respectively. Ben Shelton reached the men’s singles quarterfinals.

Among players who did not enter the Olympics, Sebastian Korda was the 16th seed in Cincinnati and suffered a first-round exit at the hands of Pablo Carreno Busta. Madison Keys withdrew from the WTA 1000 event after retiring in her opening match at the Canadian Open.