Tennis influencer Rachel Stuhlmann lands Aus Open job

A tennis influencer saw her Australian Open plans thrown out the window after scoring a last minute spot at the opening grand slam.

Tennis influencer Rachel Stuhlmann landed a shock last-minute job at the Australian Open.

The former college tennis star made a name for herself on social media with her tennis content, The Sun reports.

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But now she has managed to get herself accredited at the first grand slam of the new season which kicked off on Sunday.

That is because the ex-Missouri Tigers NCAA player received a shock call-up to be Varvara Lepchenko’s coach for the tournament.

Stuhlmann took to her Instagram story to give her 305,000 followers the exciting update.

The tennis influencer was called on to be a coach.

She shared the news with her followers.

She posted a snap of her official pass and wrote: “I came to the Australian Open with my own plans - just a few work commitments around the tournament but mostly to enjoy the AO experience for the first time.

“Earlier today I got a call from a good friend of mine asking if I could step in as their last-minute coach for this year’s event.

“I’m beyond excited for the chance to get on the AO courts and support her in any way I can.

“You never really know what opportunities will come your way at these events, and this one is definitely a fun one for me.

“I’m all in.

“Here’s to making in the main - let’s go, @varyka1.”

Stuhlmann was overjoyed to land the coaching role.

Lepchenko failed to make it out of the qualifiers. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

However, it turns out the job was rather short-lived.

Because veteran Lepchenko, 38, was dumped out of the tournament on Thursday.

She came through two rounds of singles qualifying - including beating Brit Heather Watson in three sets - but fell at the final hurdle to Anca Todoni.

In theory, she could stick around in Melbourne and try to get in as a lucky loser if there are late withdrawals.

The influencer is no stranger to tennis events.

Stuhlmann has amassed quite a following

Lepchenko - who reached the fourth round at the 2012 French Open and 2015 US Open - is not in the women’s doubles draw and has not played mixed doubles at Major level since 2012.

She did, though, make it to the Australian Open doubles semi-finals with Zheng Saisai 12 years ago.

Stuhlmann had earlier posted a stunning photo of the clear-blue skies in Melbourne accompanied by Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely music.

The former NCAA tennis No77 rank then added a picture of two packets of the TimTams - the famous Australian chocolate biscuits.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Tennis influencer Rachel Stuhlmann lands Aus Open job