Serena Williams: what’s all the racquet with this 36 year old American tennis player? During the U.S. Open Final, Serena played but lost to the Haitian-Japanese tennis player, Naomi Osaka. Williams feels that she should have won the game because the calls “were a little sexist” towards her.
Throughout the game, Williams couldn’t seem to catch a break from the umpire, Carlos Ramos. The experienced Portuguese official found himself between a rock and a hard place after his officiating of the match between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, where Williams accused him of sexism after she was docked a game for receiving three code violations.
First, she was warned after her coach Patrick Mouratoglou was seen communicating with her via a hand gesture to which she replied, “I don’t cheat to win, I’d rather lose.” Then, she was docked a point after smashing her racket. The 36-year-old, who was chasing a record-equalling 24th grand slam title, received further punishment after verbally abusing the umpire, calling him a “thief” and a “liar” in a heated exchange that went on for some time, which resulted in her third violation for verbal abuse.
She pleaded her case through tears to the two of them, insisting she is always treated unfairly at this event, and that men have called umpires much worse and not been penalized, but there was no budge in the score. She was even fined $17,000 for her remarks.
Perhaps her reactions went a little overboard. I can understand that umpires let a little more slide with other games, but it all depends on the official. Though I can see both sides of the argument, Williams may have been in the wrong for her reactions. However, this isn’t the first time she’s been singled out.
Williams has lived with Sjögren’s syndrome for quite some time. The debilitating autoimmune disease has a wide range of symptoms, one of them being joint pain. In order to do what she loves, Williams had Nike create a specialized, Wakanda inspired catsuit for her. As a full-body compression garment, it was also made to help with blood clots, a life-threatening health issue she’s dealt with frequently in the past. However, Williams was banned from wearing her body-hugging catsuit as a result of a new dress code. Bernard Giudicelli, the president of the French Tennis Federation, told Tennis magazine her catsuit was specifically a problem. “It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place,” Giudicelli said. “I think that sometimes we’ve gone too far.” In my opinion, his accusations were ridiculous. I don’t believe that Williams meant any harm for wearing her suit. In fact, she was just wearing it to ensure that her health wasn’t at stake. “For me, it blows my mind,” Williams added. “But I’m going to continue to fight for women.”
