Serena Williams has made a wise move by asking Rennae Stubbs to help her prepare for a farewell US Open appearance, Chris Evert said on Friday.
Ahead of her 21st singles appearance at Flushing Meadows, Williams has brought in former doubles world number one Stubbs, and has been working closely on court with the Australian.
Stubbs has experience of coaching the likes of Karolina Pliskova, Eugenie Bouchard and Samantha Stosur, and the 51-year-old won six grand slam doubles titles, so knows all about performing on the big stage.
Her fresh input could prove invaluable, Evert believes, with Williams no longer having her long-time coach Patrick Mouratoglou in her corner. He now coaches Simona Halep.
Ahead of Williams' last event before retirement, Evert told ESPN: "I know she's been practising hard for this tournament.
"She has Rennae Stubbs helping her which is a positive thing. Rennae encouraged her to play matches against other women to get a taste of how other women play, because before she was just playing with her coach and not really moving a lot in practice, just hitting a lot of balls that were coming right to her.
"What I think she needs to work on more is playing the other women, knowing their game, moving corner to corner and getting that moving going. That's the only thing that's really preventing her from getting that A or B game at this point."
Williams begins her campaign on Monday against Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, the world number 80 who beat reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu at this year's Australian Open.
Evert is the only woman in the Open Era (since 1968) to have reached more grand slam singles finals than Williams, one ahead of her fellow American after embarking on 34 runs to title matches.
However, Evert lost 16 of her finals, whereas Williams has been beaten only 10 times in 33 such matches.
The 40-year-old Williams therefore has 23 grand slam singles titles, putting her one short of the all-time record held by Margaret Court, but top of the Open Era list.
Evert does not believe Williams will be turning up purely to say goodbye.
"This is a big tournament for Serena Williams and this is an opportunity for people to really get one last look at her, and that's why everyone's trying to buy a ticket for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday night," Evert said.
"She's transcended tennis, she's revolutionised tennis with her power game. But also off the court, her fearlessness and ability to just say whatever she wanted to say, not caring what people thought, her honesty, where she came from and how she's dealt with that.
"I feel she has so many different platforms where she's helped women: women who work who have children, women of colour. I can't say enough about the influence she's had on people."
It remains to be seen whether Venus Williams will follow Serena into retirement after the upcoming slam in New York, but few would be surprised.
At the age of 42, seven-time grand slam singles winner Venus would also deserve a rapturous send-off.
"Venus gets overshadowed by little sis," said Evert. "But Venus on her own has established, accomplished so much, won so many grand slams, singles and doubles, and handled this whole sister thing with grace."
Sinner guides Italy to back-to-back Davis Cup triumphs
Jannik Sinner capped his outstanding year by helping Italy retain the Davis Cup, beating Tallon Griekspoor to ensure Italy downed the Netherlands 2-0 in Sunday's final.
World number one Sinner overcame Griekspoor 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 after Matteo Berrettini had registered a 6-4 6-2 win over Botic van de Zandschulp in the opener.
Sinner saved the only two break points of the first set as Griekspoor put up a fight, but the Italian put on a show in the tie-break to inch ahead.
Griekspoor hit back after giving up an early break in the second set, but Sinner immediately responded with two further breaks, with the Dutchman double-faulting for the first then wildly miscuing with a backhand for the second.
Sinner was untroubled from then on, sealing a triumphant end to a spectacular season.
The Italian has only dropped one set throughout that streak, finishing a year that saw him win the Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals with a 73-6 singles record.
Data Debrief: Sensational Sinner leads the way
This has been a truly remarkable year for Sinner, who has become the first man in the Open Era to win at least one set in every match throughout a season since Roger Federer in 2005.
His victory ensured Italy became the first team to retain the Davis Cup since the Czech Republic triumphed in 2012 and 2013.
Italy also captured the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this week, and they are just the third nation to claim both trophies in the same season in the last 30 years, after the Czech Republic in 2012 and Russia in 2021.
Sinner and Berrettini send defending champions Italy into Davis Cup final
Jannik Sinner's victory over Alex de Minaur clinched Italy's place in another Davis Cup final, with Matteo Berrettini also victorious as the defending champions beat Australia 2-0.
Italy won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1976 last year, and they will have an opportunity to defend their crown against the Netherlands on Sunday.
Former Wimbledon finalist Berrettini got the ball rolling with an entertaining 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 7-5 victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis, not surrendering a break after losing the opener in a tie-break.
That teed up Sinner to close out Italy's victory, with the world number one overcoming De Minaur 6-3 6-4, the same scoreline he beat the Australian by at the ATP Finals earlier this month.
Speaking after his victory in Malaga, Sinner said: "It means a lot. It was a tough encounter, playing Alex. We know each other quite well now, so I have to be very careful every time.
"It's a very tough challenge for me, so I was looking forward to this one. Obviously, it helped a lot that Matteo won the singles today. He played amazing tennis. It was very high quality.
"Hopefully, this can give us some confidence for [Sunday]. It's going to be a very difficult and tough day for us and also the Netherlands."
Data Debrief: Back-to-back for Italy
Italy's men are looking to follow in the footsteps of their female counterparts, who won the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this week.
They are just the third nation in history to make back-to-back finals at both the Davis Cup and the Federation/Billie Jean King Cup, after the United States (1963-64, 1978-79, 1981-82 and 1990-91) and Australia (1963-64 and 1964-65).
Djokovic appoints Murray as coach for Australian Open
Novak Djokovic has announced his long-term former rival Andy Murray as his coach for the Australian Open in 2025.
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner, announced his retirement earlier this year and played his final match at the Paris Olympics in August.
He will join Djokovic's team in the off-season and coach him through the opening grand slam of the year, which begins on January 12.
This will be Murray's first coaching role since retiring following a 19-year career.
"We played each other since we were boys. 25 years of being rivals, of pushing each other beyond our limits," Djokovic said in a video on social media.
"We had some of the most epic battles in our sport. They called us game changers, risk-takers, history makers.
"I thought our story may be over - turns out it has one final chapter.
"It's time for one of my toughest opponents to step into my corner. Welcome onboard coach, Andy Murray."
Djokovic failed to win a major title for the first time since 2017, though he did clinch a long-awaited Olympic gold medal in Paris.
The Serb is currently level with Margaret Court for the most major singles titles by any player. He has a good record in Australia though, winning 10 times in Melbourne, beating Murray in four of those finals.
Murray, who beat Djokovic to win the US Open title in 2012 and Wimbledon the following year, says he hopes they can achieve success together.
"I'm going to be joining Novak's team in the off-season, helping him to prepare for the Australian Open," Murray said.
"I'm really excited for it and looking forward to spending time on the same side of the net as Novak for a change, helping him to achieve his goals."
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