admin Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 After a controversial call by the U.S. Open chair umpire contributed to her defeat in Saturday's women's title match, Serena Williams asserted that tennis has different standards for men and women. Williams, 36, on Saturday suffered a swift 6-2, 6-4 loss to Naomi Osaka, who became the tournament's first female Japanese champion. It happened after Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, appeared to be thrown off her game -- after being penalized in the second set because of three separate game violations. Williams got the first violation from umpire Carlos Ramos, who ruled that Williams received coaching earlier in the set; she told him she'd "rather lose" than cheat. ESPN ✔@espn "You owe me an apology!" Serena was fired up with the official in the final set of the US Open final. 5:13 PM - Sep 8, 2018 62.8K 23.4K people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy “I didn’t get coaching,” Williams said multiple times. “I don’t cheat! I didn’t get coaching. How can you say that? You owe me an apology. I have never cheated in my life!” She was given a second violation for smashing her racquet, and again yelled at the chair umpire who had given her the first warning. “You are attacking my character,” she continued. “You will never ever ever be on another court of mine as long as you live.” Her third violation came after she called the umpire a “thief,” leading to the automatic loss of a game. “You stole a point from me; you’re a thief, too,” she insisted. Serena Williams, right, talks with referee Brian Earley as chair umpire Carlos Ramos looks on during the women's final. (AP) The umpire instantly awarded a game to Osaka, citing a “verbal abuse call” against Williams. It was at this point that Williams sought out the referee and argued that the harsh call had been made because of her gender. “Do you know how many other men do things that are much worse than that? This is not fair. There’s a lot of men out here that have said a lot of things, and because they are men, that doesn’t happen to them,” she said to the referee. “There are men out here that do a lot worse but because I’m a woman, because I’m a woman you’re going to take this away from me? That is not right.” Williams stood by her performance at the post-match news conference, saying: “I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things and I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality.” ESPN ✔@espn Serena's coach says that a penalty for coaching during play is hypocritical because every coach does it. 5:31 PM - Sep 8, 2018 3,956 1,354 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy Later Saturday, Williams received some support in the form of tweets from tennis legend Billie Jean King. Billie Jean King ✔@BillieJeanKing (1/2) Several things went very wrong during the @usopen Women’s Finals today. Coaching on every point should be allowed in tennis. It isn’t, and as a result, a player was penalized for the actions of her coach. This should not happen. 9:20 PM - Sep 8, 2018 12.6K 3,934 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy "Several things went very wrong during the @usopen Women’s Finals today," King wrote. "Coaching on every point should be allowed in tennis. It isn’t, and as a result, a player was penalized for the actions of her coach. This should not happen. Billie Jean King ✔@BillieJeanKing (2/2) When a woman is emotional, she’s “hysterical” and she’s penalized for it. When a man does the same, he’s “outspoken” & and there are no repercussions. Thank you, @serenawilliams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same. 9:21 PM - Sep 8, 2018 63.6K 20.3K people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy "When a woman is emotional, she’s “hysterical” and she’s penalized for it," King continued. "When a man does the same, he’s “outspoken” & and there are no repercussions. Thank you, @serenawilliams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same." Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, later admitted to an ESPN reported that “I was coaching.” “I’m honest, I was coaching. I mean I don’t think she looked at me so that’s why she didn’t even think I was but I was like 100 percent of the coaches on [sic] 100 percent of the matches.” He said that he believes that rules like this “are killing tennis.” “I have always said it. … Not to allow the players to express their feelings is stupid, I mean it’s not a big deal breaking racquets.” Williams said later at the press conference: “I don’t need to cheat to win. I’ve won enough. That’s never been something I’ve ever done, you know.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 Serena Williams Had Major Beef with the Umpire at the U.S. Open, and She Was Fined $17,000 for Three Violations HIGHLIGHTS: SERENA WILLIAMS had some major beef with the umpire officiating the U.S. Open final on Saturday. He called three violations against her, and she was fined $17,000. Serena says he was being unfair to her, and male tennis players have done much worse. She ended up losing the match. FULL STORY: SERENA WILLIAMS lost the Women's U.S. Open final to Naomi Osaka on Saturday . . . but the real story was Serena's battle with chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who hit her with THREE violations. It started when Ramos called a violation for illegal communication between Serena and her coach. Serena denied cheating. Her coach later admitted to hand signals, but also said that he didn't believe Serena had even looked at him. He added that everyone does it, and said Serena's opponent's coach was doing the same thing. Then, Serena got a second violation for angrily throwing her racket at the ground and breaking it. The second penalty meant Serena lost a point, and she was NOT happy about that. She demanded an apology from Ramos, saying he stole a point from her, and that he was a, quote, "thief." She yelled, quote, "You will never, ever, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live. You are the liar." Ramos then issued a third violation for "verbal abuse," which meant Serena was docked a GAME. After the match, Serena was fined $17,000 for the violations, but she'll be fine. She won $1.85 million for finishing in second place. The issue is more about Serena not wanting to be seen as a cheater . . . and whether or not the umpire was being SEXIST for penalizing her. Serena repeatedly said that she'd rather lose than cheat . . . and claimed she was being unfairly treated because male tennis players get away with much worse. After the match, Serena hugged Naomi, who had just won her first Grand Slam. Later, Naomi started crying at the trophy ceremony, because Serena's fans were BOOING over how the umpire had treated her. Serena told the crowd, quote, "I know you guys were here rooting . . . but let's make this the best moment we can, and we'll get through it. Let's give everyone the credit where credit's due. Let's not boo anymore . . . let's be positive . . . no more booing." (Here's video of Serena's blow-up, and here's her comments afterward. Serena's coach talks at the 12:50 mark in the first video. And here's Serena talking about it in a press conference afterward, and getting emotional.) (Obviously, Serena lost her cool. And technically, she violated the rules. However, in a sport that's FAMOUS for meltdowns, this one was relatively tame. Serena was very frustrated . . . mostly at the implication that she was cheating . . . and like it or not, the umpire chose NOT to let her vent.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.