I wondered if that was part of the official's justification for giving her the third code violation for abuse. I rarely remember someone continuing to argue a call so long after the fact. Immediately after the questionable coaching call, Serena defended herself in a respectful manner and seemed to channel her anger into strong play. She did not argue the coaching call when she started playing well for a few games and was up a break. It was only after her serve failed her and she became frustrated that she couldn't respond to Osaka's game that she went back and started arguing about coaching call and then calling the official a liar and a thief. If you go back and watch again, Serena wasn't even going to get a conduct violation after she called him a liar and a thief while she was sitting down during the changeover. Ramos called it when Serena got up from her chair, started walking onto the court and was still yelling. At that point, she had gone between changeover yapping that we see so often and was in danger of taking Osaka of out the match. Listen, there is much to admire about Serena, but for once, I'd like to hear her take responsibility for her mistakes. Whether the official was right or wrong, she had the last chance to diffuse the situation each step of the way and she didn't. Stop complaint, don't smash your racket, exhibit some sportsmanship and respect for an opponent who was playing the best tennis of her life and then go question whether there is a double standard. She could have gotten some first serves in and she wouldn't have lost the match, regardless of the game penalty. The official didn't steal anything from Serena; she let her temper get the best of her and ruined Osaka's day in the process. She is not a victim in this situation (although she has been the victim of some terrible treatment in the past). |
smashing racquet is an automatic penalty. |
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Great opinion piece by Marina Navratilova.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/opinion/martina-navratilova-serena-williams-us-open.html |
she was not diffusing the crowd - she was feeding them by reinforcing the lie that she lost because of 'unfair treatment' and also, that we are all in this together rooting for serena and suffering because she lost. i am sorry, but not everyone is rooting for her even at the stadium much less at home. US open is a major international event and tennis is a very popular sport in many countries (in fact more popular than it is in the US). while serena will remain a legend no matter what she does, people around the world are aghast at the crowd's and officials' behavior and all these followups that justify it. serena had a tantrum because she was losing to a better player. no big deal, it happens to many players. turning this into some kind of injustice is preposterous even in the US let alone the rest of the world. |
Ugh, that's the same garbage women get hit with all the time when they try to stand up to sexism -- who cares what men are allowed to get away with, you just keep your pretty little head down for the comfort of everyone else. |
That is such BS. Sexism did not cause her to destroy her racquet. Sexism did not cause her to call the umpire names. She did that all by herself. |
Some really great points here. Well said. |
If you actually read the piece, I think you missed the point. |
So when women are being discriminated against they should just be nice about it.
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When Serena was done screaming at the umpire, Osaka should have started screaming at the umpire for delaying the game to listen to Serena’s complaints! She has to stand up for herself and all Asians and people of mixed race and color!
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She also told him that he'd never work on a court with her ever again. Oddly enough, McEnroe said something very similar to an ump that he was irked out. |
| ^irked at |
No, they should throw tantrums, break their racquets, call the officials names, and threaten to stuff a ball down their throats. THAT is how they get what they want. /s |
I'm the poster who has been a tennis fan for over 40 years. I've stopped reading most all of the European tennis forums. The sexism and racism is overwhelming. I can still count on immediate racist comments in those forums and the Australian. |
The USTA Player Development group/team whatever are notoriously incompentent - at least when Patrick McEnroe was a part of it. Player Developemnt was run by a bunch of know nothing old white guys who mostly supported children of prior tennis stars. Lots of AA players got short shrift and avoided USTA. They may be hard to find but I remember Courier and McEnroe insulting the hell out of Donald Young because he wouldnt' jump to what the usta wanted him to do. They tried to convince him to move to Spain to be Nadal's hitting partner which was a ticket to nowhere. Every time the guys got some tv time, they spent all of it insulting him. Don't even get me started on Taylor Townsend who they refused to support because of her "lack of fitness". According to a comment Everett made during the match, the USTA overlooked Naomi after she was evaluated. |