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Serena Williams fined over outbursts during US Open final

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Updated on July 6, 2023

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Serena Williams was fined $17,000 (£13,150) for three code breaches during Saturday’s US Open final, in which she accused the match umpire of lying and bitterly remonstrated with officials before losing to Naomi Osaka in straight sets.

The penalties include $4,000 for being reprimanded for coaching when her coach made a hand gesture to her, $3,000 for smashing her racket, and $10,000 for “verbal abuse” of chair umpire Carlos Ramos, whom she accused of sexism.

“The umpire was following the rules by the book but Serena has a point,” BBC tennis commentator Sue Barker remarked.

“Tennis was the loser” from Saturday’s events, according to Barker, a former world number three and 1976 French Open winner.

Williams received her first code penalty for improperly getting coaching from Patrick Mouratoglou early in the second set of the match, which Osaka won 6-2, 6-4. Williams was chasing a record-tying 24th grand slam singles victory. “I don’t cheat to win,” she assured the umpire. “I’d rather lose. I’m just letting you know.”

“But I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things. I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff. 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 taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief’. It blows my mind.

“I just feel like the fact that I have to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions, and that wants to express themselves, and wants to be a strong woman.

“They’re going to be allowed to do that because of today. Maybe it didn’t work out for me, but it’s going to work out for the next person.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 5 live’s Sportsweek show, Barker said: “Both have a point – Serena saying the male players can say what they want to umpires.

“Earlier in the tournament we saw Alize Cornet being given a code violation for changing her shirt on court and then in the same tournament Mohamed Lahyani gets down from his chair to talk to Nick Kyrgios and persuade him not to give up on a match.

“He [Ramos] was following the rules by the book but sometimes the book has to be rewritten.

“You can’t have one rule for some players and some umpires don’t adhere to it and allow players to get away with things. They’ve just got to be fair to the players.

“Tennis was the loser and we lost what was potentially a fantastic match.

“I’ve never seen anything like it since I have been watching tennis. It was sad for the game.”

Mouratoglou acknowledged to giving a signal to Williams to ESPN, but stated that every coach does it.

Williams responded by saying: “I literally just heard that too. I just texted Patrick because we don’t have signals, we’ve never discussed signals. I want to clarify myself what he’s talking about. I wasn’t being coached.”

During the medal presentation, Williams addressed the audience, who were booing loudly, saying, “I don’t want to be rude, I don’t want to do questions. [Naomi] played well. This is her first grand slam. I know you guys were here rooting and I was rooting too, but let’s make this the best moment we can and we’ll get through it. Let’s give everyone the credit where credit’s due. And let’s not boo anymore. We’re gonna get through this and let’s be positive. Congratulations, Naomi! No more booing.”

Following that, Osaka reacted to the audience’s boos. “I know that everyone was cheering for [Serena] and I’m sorry it had to end like this. I just want to say thank you for watching the match.”

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said it was “working with the sport” to address gender inequity in a statement posted Monday morning.

“The WTA believes that there should be no difference in the standards of tolerance provided to the emotions expressed by men vs. women and is committed to working with the sport to ensure that all players are treated the same. We do not believe that this was done last night,” WTA CEO Steve Simon said. “We also think the issue of coaching needs to be addressed and should be allowed across the sport. The WTA supports coaching through its on-court coaching rule, but further review is needed.”