I'm not going to defend Serena Williams for her meltdown in the US Open final. It's not the first time it's happened, and each time it escalated because of her behavior. Whether it's in the moment or whatever, Serena's definitely not the victim that she made herself out to be. Had she kept her composure, she wouldn't have been docked a game by the chair umpire (more on that in a minute).
Her actions may have been wrong (and the reason the situation got out of hand). Hence the $17,000 fine. However, some of the points she made about there being a double standard in tennis weren't wrong. And the WTA admitted as much!
One of the things Serena addressed had nothing to do with her, but it definitely illustrates the fact that there is absolutely a double standard in tennis. In the first round (when it was about 95 degrees during the day), Alize Cornet of France realized her shirt was on backwards, so she went over to the corner of the court, took it off for two seconds and put it on the right way...and was promptly issued a warning for it! Meanwhile, men's players change their shirts at changeovers all the time. Yet when a woman does it, she gets a code violation.
It would've been one thing if Cornet was wearing a dress (like many women players do) and took that off while on the court. But it's asinine to give her a warning for taking off her shirt and exposing her sports bra for two seconds. Perish the thought! I don't blame the chair umpire on that one. He was simply following the rule as he understood it. But the rule was idiotic and everyone knew it. So they changed it on the fly the next day and announced that Cornet wouldn't face any sort of punishment. They went so far as to say she did nothing wrong and didn't deserve the code violation.
Now let's shift to the women's final and Serena's showdown with chair umpire Carlos Ramos. No one is disputing the second code violation for racket abuse. That's very clear in the rule book and is a violation no matter who does it. In this case, it just happened to be a second violation, which resulted in a point penalty and started getting her going.
The first code violation was for coaching. Serena's coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, admitted that when Ramos warned her for receiving coaching, he was indeed giving her direction. Whether or not Serena was actually looking at him at the time is a different question. However, Mouratoglou also correctly pointed out that he wasn't doing anything different than any player's coach during a match. Toni Nadal gave Rafa signals during the match all the time. Yet Nadal never received a code violation for coaching. So, if it happens all the time and you just let it go, why are you suddenly deciding to be a stickler?
Coaching has traditionally not been allowed during a match, but that's starting to change. The WTA allows on-court coaching at a number of tournaments (including US Open qualifying I think). Players are obviously allowed to receive coaching then, and there's a growing number of people who think it should be allowed at all times. And if that's the case, maybe it's worth exploring a rule change.
Then there's the third violation, the verbal abuse that resulted in a game penalty. Evidently what set Ramos off was when she called him a "thief" while talking about the point penalty at the 4-3 changeover. And that's what really got Serena going on her little tantrum that's really pretty inexcusable for a 36-year-old mother.
However, here's where I take issue with the game penalty, is calling the chair umpire a "thief" really grounds for a verbal abuse violation. Andy Roddick, James Blake, and a slew of other men's players past and present have admitted to calling chair umpires much worse and not receiving so much as a warning. And need I remind you that John McEnroe and Andre Agassi were a tad fiery during their playing days? So how is it verbal abuse when Serena Williams calls him a "thief," but not when a male player does it?
Billie Jean King, no stranger to controversy during her playing days, wrote an excellent op-ed piece in Sunday's Washington Post. She didn't defend Serena's actions, but she did make it pretty clear that Serena seems to be treated differently and held to a different standard than other players. She was also pretty direct in her criticism of Ramos. And I must say I agree with Bille Jean's assessment that Ramos abused his power and made himself a part of the match, which is something an official should never do, regardless of the sport.
Contrast the Williams-Ramos situation to what happened in the men's second round. Nick Kyrgios has a bit of a reputation for not always playing his hardest all the time. He was going thru the motions on one of those ridiculously hot afternoons early in the tournament, and it really looked like he might retire from the match. Then at one of the changeovers, the chair umpire gets out of the chair and has a little chat with Kyrgios, telling him things like "I want to help you. I know this is not you." Do I really need to tell you how inappropriate that is?
And, of course, let's not forget the controversy surrounding another Grand Slam tournament. Just before the start of the US Open, the President of the French Tennis Federation said that outfits like the catsuit Serena wore at this year's French Open would be banned moving forward. Yet no such rule dictating what the men are and aren't allowed to wear. (This isn't like Wimbledon with its long-standing and controversy-free all-white dress code, either.) Even the comments associated with the decision screamed sexism. In response, Serena wore a tutu in her first round match.
None of this, of course, changes the fact that Serena Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam champion and arguably the greatest women's player in history. But it's sad that this has overshadowed the performance of newly-minted US Open champion Naomi Osaka and her well-deserved victory.
Osaka had her Grand Slam moment taken away from her by this controversy. The crowd was booing during her victory ceremony. They weren't booing her, but it sure felt like it. And that's just wrong. Naomi Osaka did nothing other than play the match of her life against her idol to become a Grand Slam champion. Can we start talking about that now please?
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