Serena Williams has been fined $17,000 for her controversial argument with an umpire in the US Open final last night.
Williams labelled Carlos Ramos a 'thief', after the umpire docked her a game for a third rule violation during the match. She would go on to lose to Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4.
Fox News have broke down the fine, with $10,000 for verbal abuse of the umpire, $4,000 for receiving coaching during the match and $3,000 for smashing her racket.
The confrontation with the umpire started when Ramos accused Williams of communicating with her coach in the stands during the match, something that is not allowed in tennis grand slams. Williams denied the accusation, stating she would 'rather lose' than cheat.
sonofthebronx: Serena Williams: "You stole a point from me. You're a thief too." ESPN U.S. Open Tennis: Women's Championship https://t.co/oye1H9Pekp pic.twitter.com/Tp1dStGxNi
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) September 8, 2018
She received a second second violation after she broke her racket out of frustration, while the third came for abusing the official. Three violations leads to an automatic docking of a game.
The 23 time grand slam champion continued to air her frustrations with the umpire, saying she deserved an apology for the accusations directed towards her:
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…
And you stole a point from me. You’re a thief, too!
After the match Williams claimed that the treatment she had received was unfair, claiming that male tennis players get away with much worse violations on a regular basis.
The reaction to the incident has been mixed. Many have defended Williams, while others have condemned her behaviour.
New #USOpen campion @Naomi_Osaka_ is a pure hero and class act. @serenawilliams exposed multiple forms of bias. She is a new personal role model of mine.
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) September 9, 2018
Serena Williams is the most "randomly" drug tested tennis athlete. She's been drug tested more than the top 5 US men's players. She was told her tennis outfit doesn't respect the game. Now, she's being penalized for something male athletes always do. She has EVERY RIGHT to be mad
— Saraah ♤ (@BrownSugaSaraah) September 9, 2018
Lastly for now on Serena Williams, can someone explain the sexism idea. She was playing a woman so if the rules weren't properly enforced, disadvantaging her opponent, could that not also have been construed as sexism under such nonsense logic that she brought into this?
— Ewan MacKenna (@EwanMacKenna) September 9, 2018
The debate surrounding this incident will likely continue in the coming days, with the issue of sexism in sport at the heart of most conversations.
