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Serena Williams Says the Game-Losing Penalty Against Her at the U.S. Open Was 'Sexist'


The U.S. Open ended in controversy on Saturday (September 8) after the chair umpire accused Serena Williams of cheating. If you’re unfamiliar with what happened, here’s a quick backstory: This weekend’s game first took a turn when Carlos Ramos, the umpire, claimed Williams was receiving coaching from the box—a violation she took great offense to. “I don’t cheat to win. I’d rather lose,” Williams told Ramos.

She was docked for the incident, and received a second violation after she broke her racket in frustration. This resulted in Ramos issuing a point penalty to Williams, which, naturally, upset her. “You stole a point from me. You’re a thief, too,” Williams told Ramos, who then gave her a third violation and game penalty that put her opponent, Naomi Osaka, only a few serves away from a Grand Slam win. Osaka went on to win the match—and the tournament.

According to BuzzFeed, Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, admitted to coaching Williams but didn’t think she was looking at him; he also suggested Ramos has inconsistently applied this rule. That, ultimately, is why many fans are angry about this incident: Many think Ramos was unfairly harsh toward Williams, taking a point away from her for calling him a “thief,” as well as docking her for coaching, when male tennis players have said much worse and been coached with no punishment.

Tennis legend Billie Jean King called out this hypocrisy shortly after the U.S. Open ended. “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,” she tweeted. In an earlier message, she wrote, “A player was penalized for the actions of her coach. This should not happen.”

And now Williams herself is commenting on what happened. During a press conference following the U.S. Open, she said Ramos’ penalties felt sexist.

“I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things, and I’m here fighting for women’s rights and women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff,” she said. “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 took a game from a man ’cause they said ‘thief.’ For me, it blows my mind.”

She continued, “But I’m gonna continue to fight for women… The fact that I have to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions and wants to express themselves, and they want to be a strong woman. And they’re gonna be allowed to do that because of today. Maybe it didn’t work out for me, but it’s gonna work out for the next person.”

See her comments for yourself, below. Start around the 8:38 mark:

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