One memorable scene from the 2000 Australian Open will be when Rennae Stubbs revealed Martina Hingis’ reaction to losing the women’s doubles championship.
The top-seeded duo of Lisa Raymond and Stubbs beat Hingis and her French partner Mary Pierce 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to lift their first Grand Slam title. It was a rare defeat for Hingis on the hallowed Melbourne Park courts—a first loss in the city since 1996.
But the match people were buzzing about wasn’t this one—it was Hingis’ response to it. After dominating singles and doubles in Melbourne, the 20-year-old Swiss sensation was visibly upset, declining to thank the crowd during the trophy presentation.
Rennae Stubbs Called Out Martina Hingis’ Attitude After the Latter’s Doubles Final Loss
In the locker room afterwards, Stubbs had no holds barred in his description of Hingis’ attitude.
“All she kept telling me was how bad she played today,” Stubbs said. “How about a little credit as well?” registering a degree of annoyance at Hingis, who appeared too focused on her own mistakes and not sufficiently on accepting the opponents’ good play.
Stubbs, a veteran doubles specialist who had been teaming with Raymond since 1996, was visibly irritated by the absence of sportsmanship.
“It’s very hard for these players sometimes to give their opponents credit just because they’ve had a bad day. It’s so annoying,” Stubbs added.
Raymond and Stubbs had a clear game strategy—target Pierce and take advantage of Hingis’ occasional lapses. Swiss legend Hingis proved to be the weak link in their armor, losing the decider and dropping her own serve twice. Stubbs couldn’t resist herself at the end, saying:
“Now you know how other humans feel,” she remarked.
A look at Rennae Stubbs’ doubles campaign in the 2000 Australian Open
Rennae Stubbs and doubles partner Lisa Raymond began with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Louis Pleming and Iva Majoli in the first round. They won 6-0, 6-0 over Virág Csurgó and Eva Martincová in the second round to advance to the third round. Stubbs and Raymond continued their dominance, defeating María Florencia Labat and Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 to progress to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, they defeated Erika deLone and Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals. They then defeated sixth seeds Anna Kournikova and Barbara Schett in the semifinals 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the final, defeating Martina Hingis and her French partner Mary Pierce.
