Samantha Stosur has hit out at Marinko Matosevic's opinion of women's tennis. Picture: Darko Vojinovic. Source: Darko Vojinovic / AP
SAM Stosur has joined the growing chorus of critics to jump on Marinko Matosevic's stance he would not hire a female coach, describing them as a "bit pig-headed."
US Open champion Stosur thumped American Christina McHale 6-1 6-3 in Birmingham before taking aim at Matosevic, who questioned Andy Murray's decision to appoint Amelie Mauresmo as coach.
"I think that's pigheaded," Stosur said.
"But I think comments like that, you've got to take with a grain of salt and think, 'Okay, that's his opinion. Do you care about it? Not really'."
Stosur praised Murray for breaking the mould by engaging a female mentor.
"I thought, "Good on him. Why not?'," she said.
"I've seen and heard the few people making comments about him hiring a woman and how obscure that may be. I think good on him.
"He obviously believes that Amelie has something to add to his game.
"Don't matter whether it's she's a woman. Yeah, he (Murray) had the guts to do it. I hope it goes well.
"Why he's hired her, I don't know. I've never seen her coach or any of the intricate details. Yeah, I think it's good."
Stosur, who is guided by one of Murray's former coaches Miles Maclagan, said gender was irrelevant.
"For me, I don't mind," she said.
"If I thought the best person for me was a woman, great, I would absolutely do that. If it was a guy, that's fine.
"I think one of the things for me, I like to be able to hit with my coach.
"Usually women who haven't played for a while, it's quite difficult to get out there and run side to side, because that's the way it is.
"Yeah, if I found a female that I thought was going to be the best person for me, absolutely."
Matosevic has been lambasted on social media after controversially questioning Murray's decision to hire Mauresmo.
"For me, I couldn't do it (work with a female coach) since I don't think that highly of the women's game," Matosevic said after trouncing Croat Marin Cilic at Queen's Club.
"But, yeah, you know, his mum (Judy) coached him (Murray), and she did a great job with him.
"So, I mean, yeah. We'll see what happens."
The rugged Australian's comments triggered an angry response on Twitter.
Judy Murray also joined the fray, retweeting Stosur's reaction.
Matosevic was pilloried elsewhere for his remarks.
"Well, Marinko Matosevic, I don't think too highly of your game either. How many titles have you won again?," tweeted "Amy".
US tennis writer Ben Rothenberg chimed in with: "Maybe Marinko Matosevic will say something smart on the thirteenth try, I dunno."
Several other tweets were just as acerbic.
Matosevic was asked post-match about the Murray-Mauresmo liaison.
"It's all equal rights these days," the blunt Australian said. "Got to be politically correct.
"So, yeah, someone's got to give it (being coached by a woman) a go. Won't be me."
Mauresmo is the highest-profile female to mentor an elite male.
Like Murray, the Frenchwoman is a grand slam singles champion and agreed to succeed Ivan Lendl as the Scot's guide.
But while the tennis community has been publicly supportive, albeit with several leading men refusing to comment on the issue, Matosevic made plain his thoughts.
"Apparently there are a few guys in the top 100 who do have women's coaches," he said.
"I think (Mikhail) Kukushkin gets coached by his wife, Denis (Istomin) by his mum. She's done a great job with him.
"I think there could be one more.
Matosevic is coached by South Australian Mark Woodforde.
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