Noah Rubin’s “Behind The Racquet” with Rennae Stubbs • Tennis | 10sBalls

Editor’s note: 10sBalls thanks Noah Rubin for giving us permission to repost these great stories.

#LegendaryBTR– “There is nothing about my career that I look back and I have huge regrets — I just feel like all of us have our own journey.

I think the things that I eventually got to was because of what I went through. If I really look at my career, maybe I would have been a little bit more focused earlier on, not worrying about others or being popular.

I made my last Wimbledon doubles finals in 2009. I played a long time. I probably could’ve played a few more years in doubles, but I also wanted to not travel quite as much. I’m not sad about it, because I knew I put everything into the sport for as long as I could.

I got a call through NBC, and she said, “Do you want to cover the Olympics for us in 2012?” I was contemplating retiring at that stage. I just thought it was an opportunity for me to get into a post-career life. I remember saying yes to her and putting the phone down. I literally said to myself, “Well, that’s it. I’m retired.”

I like I’ve always coached my whole career. I was a very good student of the game. I didn’t have huge weapons, but I could read a player’s game. I could see a weakness. I’m not afraid to step into the coaching role.

One of the things that I think I bring to the table for a lot of these players is I’m quite an emotional person. I tap into the emotional side of tennis and the player themselves. I can bring out their best tennis abilities and make them believe a lot more in themselves than they do. A lot of tennis is about self-belief and it’s about how good you think you can be.

Most people really believe me because I’m not into hyperbole. I don’t tell someone they’re going to win a Grand Slam if I don’t believe they can. I’m not going to tell a player they’re going to be top 20 if I don’t believe it.

I’ve seen every great player in the last 30 years. I was playing doubles with Steffi Graf, I’ve played team tennis with Serena Williams, I’ve been around great players. I know what it takes and I’ve seen what it takes from them and if I can instill that in somebody, I think that that’s been my positive line.”

Rennae Stubbs (@rennaestubbs)