Billie Jean King backs Serena Williams over sexism row after US Open meltdown
‘Thank you for calling out this doubled standard'
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Your support makes all the difference.Billie Jean King and other leading figures in tennis have backed Serena Williams after she accused an umpire of sexism in her surprise US Open final loss to Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
Denied a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title, Williams was penalised a game for calling the chair umpire Carlos Ramos a “thief” during a heated argument in the second set on Saturday.
In her post-match press conference the star said she was the victim of “sexist” treatment.
“I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things,” said Williams. “He’s never taken a game from a man because they said “thief”.”
King - the legendary former No.1 and champion of gender equality - said Williams was quite right to call out the “double standard” in tennis.
“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,” King tweeted.
Victoria Azarenka, two-time winner of the Australian Open, said the umpire’s decision was “bs” and agreed the umpire had acted unfairly.
“If it was men’s match, this wouldn’t happen like this. It just wouldn’t,” she tweeted.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said it would be reviewing the dispute between Williams and Ramos. “There are matters that need to be looked into that took place during the match,” the WTA stated.
US sports columnist Christine Brennan said: “Serena is absolutely right to say that men could get away with it and women could not.
“This is a sport that gave us John McEnroe, the sport that gave us Ilie Nastase, Jimmy Connors - I could go on and on. Men who have gotten away with far worse than saying, “You’re a thief. You took a point from me.” That’s exactly what Serena did.”
Williams was given three code violations in her 6-2, 6-4 loss to Osaka. Ramos initially issued the US star with a code violation for receiving signals from her coach - not allowed during Grand Slam matches.
After a second violation for smashing her racquet, the 36-year-old began shouting at the umpire, calling him a “liar” and a “thief”.
Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou later acknowledged he had signalled during the game but said the official should have handled the situation better.
“The star of the show has been once again the chair umpire,” he tweeted. “Should they be allowed have an influence on the result of a match? When do we decide that this should never happen again?”
King said in-game coaching should be allowed in tennis.
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