Serena Williams’ Controversial Loss: No Love for a Champion

Photo credit to WTB Gallery via Flickr

US Open

Serena Williams Accused of Cheating and Penalized During Finals Loss

Serena Williams’ pursuit for a 24th Grand Slam victory ended not only in a loss but in controversy. The match between Williams (17) and Naomi Osaka (20) ended 6-2, 6-4 with Osaka on top. While Williams was the favorite in the match, Osaka had been on what seemed to be an unstoppable path. Prior to the final match, Osaka told a reporter, ” I always wanted to be Serena.” The respect and admiration for Serena were apparent from Osaka before, during, and after their second meeting Saturday afternoon. The same cannot be about the USTA and world of tennis at-large.

“I have a daughter and I stand for what’s right for her… I don’t cheat to win. I’d rather lose.”

During the second set of the match, the chair umpire warned Serena that her coach and herself were in violation of code by using hand signals to give directions. Serena gracefully walked over to the umpire and with surety wrapped in certainty looked him in the eye. Williams let umpire Carlos Ramos know that her coach was simply giving her a thumbs up. She told him point blank, “I don’t cheat to win. I’d rather lose.” As soon as she had finished speaking she walked away as the crowd erupted in cheers for the G-rated soundbite.

“There’s a lot of men who have said things and because they are men nothing happens to them.”

Later on in the set, Williams was penalized again for smashing her racket. Ramos penalized Williams again by giving Osaka a point leading Williams to call him a “thief” which only resulted in further penalization. Serena quickly became emotional talking to USTA officials stating, “this isn’t fair, this isn’t fair… there’s a lot of men who have said things and because they are men nothing happens to them.”

After an awkward trophy ceremony, the USTA released a statement regarding the match but not the situation regarding Williams and the chair umpire. The praising of Serena’s sportsmanship and graceful composure was at best cheap patronization. Anyone who has followed her career could have told you that is exactly how she would behave on the podium. The focus of the statement should have been on what went on in the match.

Beloved Internationally, Underappreciated Nationally

In 2001, Serena Williams along with her sister Venus Williams were boo’ed while playing in the Indian Wells tennis tournament. This traumatic experience, fueled by racism, proved to be incredibly painful for the young tennis stars; Serena boycotted the tournament for 17 years. For years Serena won trophy after trophy representing the United States but it seemed as though the States never embraced their champion. From her outfits to her hair, and her animated father, the American world of tennis did not understand Serena, nor did they make an attempt to.

The boos were as loud in New York as they were in California back in 2001. This time, however, the boos were for Serena, not against her. The crowd, infuriated by the penalizations and fired up by her rebuttals to the umpire and officials, was as vocal as Serena but not nearly as dignified during the trophy ceremony. The Deja Vu brought on by the chorus of boos was eery and ironic; in a way, it symbolized a full circle moment for the champion and her sport. Yet once again, Serena was going against the current and tennis wasn’t having it.

Right and Wrong

Her point about men expressing anger and not being penalized is exactly right. We’ve seen a corpus of enraged antics from John McEnroe with little respective consequences. In fact, McEnroe has made an entire commercial career off of his short temper reputation. Serena, on the other hand, does not represent the traditional character of the sport, right?

The presumption of cheating via hand signals by the chair umpire is both understandable and valid. No one besides Serena and her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, know exactly what went on. Mouratoglou did admit that he was coaching Serena. However, he was doing so just like every other coach in tennis does and said nothing out of the ordinary took place, according to him.

Serena’s behavior was not exemplary or textbook “sportsmanship”. Was she wrong in her reaction? No. This incident was much larger than a type-A official and emotional former champion looking to make a comeback.

Anyone that understands her history in the sport, how she has been historically treated in the media, the past year of her life, and the double standard that exists between male and female tennis players, would tell you “no”.

The history textbooks will be right when they call Williams the greatest female athlete of this generation and one of the greatest athletes of all time. Tennis will be wrong when they honor her in future decades as the “nation’s sweetheart” they never let her become.

Photo credit to WTB Gallery via Flickr