Serena Williams Called Out Sexism In Tennis After She Was Penalized By An Umpire At The US Open
Tennis deity and proud catsuit wearer Serena Williams lost the US Open women’s singles final to Naomi Osaka yesterday, but the real drama occurred when chair umpire Carlos Ramos penalized Serena for cheating during the match. Ramos claimed Williams was receiving coaching. Things escalated rather quickly from there. Serena eventually labeled Caros a “thief,” and called out sexism in tennis. She also ended up owing 17K in fines. It got very real at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday.
During the second game of the second set, Carlos Ramos hit Serena with a coaching violation after her coach Patrick Mouratoglou gave a thumbs up in the stands.
Coaching or not ?#usopen pic.twitter.com/OATS0LE2Y2
— Ashish TV Slams (@ashishtvslams) September 8, 2018
Serena then let Carlos Ramos know she’d rather lose than cheat to win.
Serena Williams was penalised for a coaching violation by the umpire who thought her getting a thumbs up, while playing was cheating.@SerenaWilliams let him know “..I don’t cheat to win, I’d rather lose..”#USOpen Boom! That part! ??♀️ pic.twitter.com/MWv9XsTWGb
— Jerome Trammel (@MrJeromeTrammel) September 8, 2018
During a later set, Serena smashed her racquet on the court after “losing swerve in the fifth game” (I don’t speak tennis but apparently that’s a negative?). Ramos responded by awarding her opponent Osaka the first point in the next game. That’s when Serena returned to the big chair to collect an apology she felt she was owed for being called a cheater.
Serena to chair umpire: "You will never, ever, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live. You are the liar. When are you going to give me my apology? You owe me an apology. Say it. Say you're sorry."
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) September 8, 2018
Ramos didn’t immediately climb down off his tennis lifeguard sky throne to give her one, so Serena went on to call him a “thief” for stealing her point. Contrary to popular belief (cuz’ aren’t there several male players famous for calling the refs MUCH worse than that?), you can’t call the chair ump a name. He totaled up her three violations and awarded Serena with a game penalty. Serena angrily protested this and multiple officials had to get involved. Williams went on to accuse Ramos of sexism as the crowd booed. It wasn’t a good lewk for tennis yesterday.
"You owe me an apology!"
Serena was fired up with the official in the final set of the US Open final. pic.twitter.com/r6RSbrirnV
— ESPN (@espn) September 8, 2018
Osaka won, but the above incidents and the boos she received at her trophy presentation kind of ruined the moment for her and resulted in tears. Serena read the crowd for booing and consoled her opponent. She’s won this match 23 times so she probably wasn’t hainty about Osaka receiving the $3.8 million dollar check.
Williams sensed that the moment might have been spoiled for the Osaka, and tried to calm the situation, saying “I don’t want to be rude. She played well. Let’s make this the best moment we can, let’s not boo any more.”
The Women’s Tennis Associaton had to release a statement (via The Telegraph).
The WTA confirmed they would “look into” what happened.
A statement read: “There are matters that need to be looked into that took place during the match. For tonight, it is time to celebrate these two amazing players, both of whom have great integrity.
“Naomi is a deserving champion and Serena at all times plays with class and makes us proud.”
They couldn’t have been THAT proud of Serena seeing as TMZ is reporting that she’s since been handed a bill for $17,000 by the WTA.
Williams will be fined $17,000 for 3 separate code violations during the tennis tournament’s final.
-$4,000 for a coaching violation.
-$3,000 for smashing her racquet.
-$10,000 for verbal abuse towards the umpire.
Serena can probably find the 17K in a pair of jeans fresh out of the dryer, so that probably won’t be too painful a bill.
During a press conference after the match, Serena said that if she was a dude, things would’ve turned out very, very differently.
I don’t know. You definitely can’t go back in time. I can’t sit here and say I wouldn’t say he’s a thief, because I thought he took a game from me.
But I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things. I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff. For me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He’s never taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief’.
For me it blows my mind. But I’m going to continue to fight for women and to fight for us to have equal — like Cornet should be able to take off her shirt without getting a fine. This is outrageous.
And I’m guessing that after Serena and tennis’ bad day, her husband Alexis Ohanian took her to a place where she could drown her sorrows in pasta. No, I don’t mean the Olive Garden in Times Square. I mean, Italy since they have it like that.
Pic: AP