Charleston Open sensation hired ex-Venus Williams | Sports News

Yuliia Starodubtseva’s outstanding run to the ultimate of the Charleston Open has been backed by a quietly vital teaching change.

The Ukrainian qualifier has just lately introduced Eric Hechtman, a coach with expertise working alongside Venus Williams and Peyton Stearns, into her staff on a trial foundation forward of the match.

Starodubtseva, ranked 89th on the planet, arrived in Charleston having entered as a qualifier earlier than a withdrawal moved her into the principle draw. It comes after Williams confirmed her true colours with advice to a “heartbroken” tennis star.

She has since reeled off 5 consecutive victories, together with wins over Madison Keys and McCartney Kessler, to achieve the primary WTA Tour closing of her profession. She will face defending champion Jessica Pegula for the title on Sunday.

The addition of Hechtman to her setup sits alongside her major teaching relationship with Pearse Dolan, her boyfriend, whom she met whereas each have been college students at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Dolan, an Australian who performed on the lads’s staff on the college, has coached Starodubtseva for the previous yr and a half.

Starodubtseva selected faculty tennis within the United States at 17 as a result of she was not financially prepared to show skilled, choosing Old Dominion partly as a result of they supplied her a full scholarship and partly as a result of there have been already fellow Ukrainian gamers on the staff.

“In all fairness, like I was 17 years old, and I had no idea about American colleges,” she mentioned. “It just seemed like a great opportunity, especially at that moment I wasn’t able to go pro.” She went on to finish each an undergraduate degree in intercultural communication and a grasp’s degree in sport management.

After graduating in 2022, she spent a yr teaching at Westchester Country Club in Westchester, New York, working 10-hour days operating clinics for everybody from youngsters to adults.

The membership had 15 inexperienced clay courts, a element she has joked about during this week’s run on the Charleston Open. “There is an inside joke that I’m so comfortable on green clay because I coached it for a year,” she mentioned with a chuckle.

The development to the skilled ranks was gradual, bridged by UTR tournaments and the teaching stint in New York earlier than she ultimately turned professional. Her 2025 season proved inconsistent, which she attributed to an incapacity to seek out a regular stage.

“I couldn’t find a steady line where I stay and maybe play the same level. I was a bit up and down,” she mentioned. “The biggest thing I’ve been working on is to bring up my floor, because I feel like my ceiling is there. I can reach my ceiling, but I need my floor to be higher, and I feel I’m doing better with that.”