Serena Williams forced to evacuate from hotel in middle of night

Jeremy Goldstein Sat, June 20, 2026 at 9:34 PM UTC

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Serena Williams

Serena Williams is back on the professional tennis circuit (Image: Getty Images)

The 2026 Berlin Tennis Open stayed true to the late-night reputation of its host city with a bizarre hotel evacuation earlier in the tournament.

A fluke 3 a.m. fire alarm caused a host of major stars, including the recently unretired Serena Williams, to swiftly exit their hotel and seek respite outside while the situation was addressed.

Williams brought her two young children - Olympia and Aidra - down with her. Outside, they encountered a host of other tennis stars like Coco Gauff, Alex Eala, Eva Lys, and others. Even singer Doja Cat, currently on tour, was stuck outside the Berlin hotel.

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Williams had already lost in the first round of doubles alongside Karolina Muchova, falling to Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos in straight sets. She'll play next at Wimbledon after receiving a doubles wildcard entry alongside her sister, Venus.

Rennae Stubbs, Williams' swing coach, was with her in the hotel at the time of the incident. Stubbs chronicled the incident while speaking on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, sharing how she stayed in her hotel room.

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"This is two weeks in a row this has happened to me," Stubbs shared. It happened in London. On this occasion, I decided not to go downstairs... After 10 minutes of it going off, I texted some of the team and asked, 'Is the hotel on fire?' Because I don't think I'm going to come down."

Stubbs saluted Williams's poise in the situation. "I get up and put on my robe and slippers," she said. "I walk down the eight floors to the outside of the hotel."

"Everyone was standing out there. Not only were Serena and her two kids... Can you imagine waking up your two-year-old in the middle of the night at 3-4 in the morning? Good for Adira. She was like, 'What's going on?'"

"You've got Serena Williams on one side, Doja Cat on the other. You've got all of us standing around. We were out there for a good 20-25 minutes," Stubbs continued.

Lys posted a picture to her Instagram story at 3:46 am of Gauff and Eala in their pagamas.

"3 am fire alarm fit check," the post read.

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Source: “AOL Breaking”