23-times Grand Slam champion, tennis star Serena Williams missed out on her 24th Grand Slam singles title to Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
Serena was defeated by Naomi Osaka who has now become Japan’s first ever Grand Slam singles champion, but it was Serena’s outrage at an umpire’s penalties that may be what people remember most.
Some say Williams’s robbed Osaka of her moment, while other’s argue the umpire’s double standard robbed them both of glory. Ines De La Cuetara reports.
Serena accused the umpire of sexism and treating her more harshly than men after an on-court tirade at the official during her US Open final defeat to Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
Serena was cited by official Carlos Ramos for three code violations during her 6-2, 6-4 loss to rising star Osaka: for getting coaching signals; for breaking her racket, which cost her a point; and for calling the chair umpire a thief, which cost her a whole game.
Serena was slammed with a code violation for coaching, for racquet abuse and for verbal abuse towards Ramos after she called him a ‘thief’ and a ‘liar’.
She was however fined a total of $17,000 (£13,000) for violations of code during the US Open final on Saturday. – $10,000 (£7,700) for verbal abuse of Ramos, $4,000 (£3,000) for being warned for coaching, and $3,000 (£2,300) for breaking her racquet.
For each violation fine handed out can total up to $20,000 (£14,400) and Serenas’ main debt to pay was for her verbal abuse of the umpire.
