Serena Williams and Carlos Ramos paired up on Saturday evening to give tennis its most publicity since the 2008 Wimbledon final. And that would be fantastic news–if Serena had been PLAYING Ramos. But when everyone is talking about a tennis match and the two central characters are a player and the chair umpire? You know something went badly, BADLY wrong.
The details aren’t particularly complicated. Ramos followed the letter of the tennis law.
- Serena’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, got caught coaching her from the stands during the second set (and admitted it later). Coaching during a Grand Slam match is not permitted. Since the coach can’t really be punished, the player absorbs the penalty in the form of a violation (basically, a warning). And, yes. It’s a stupid rule and a stupid punishment. What it isn’t is a surprise. Everyone knows you’re not supposed to do it.
- Serena was getting soundly out-played, and at 2-2 in the second set she was broken by opponent Naomi Osaka. In response, she smashed her racket to the court and broke it, an automatic racket abuse violation (her second). Two violations equal a point penalty.
- Serena complained to Ramos throughout the changeover about the coaching violation, which she interpreted as Ramos calling her a cheater. In reality, Ramos was calling Mouratoglou a cheater, but it was already in Serena’s head that he was attacking her character.
- Serena was broken for a second time by Osaka at 3-3, which made her mad again. She approached Ramos and called him “a thief” for the original coaching call. Ramos didn’t appreciate being called a thief and gave Serena a third violation for verbal abuse, an automatic game penalty.
Ramos didn’t break any rules. It’s important to acknowledge that fact, because in the past 24 hours he has gone from being a fairly well-respected chair umpire to absorbing rather widespread accusations of blatant male chauvinism. We at least need to stipulate that he was following official protocols.
I don’t know if Carlos Ramos is sexist. I’m not prepared to say that he isn’t–he reacted quite…er….strongly to having Serena up in his grill, but I don’t think one instance of getting highly annoyed at a female player questioning his integrity automatically equates to sexism. What I AM prepared to say is that he was a bully. The coaching call was straight up punitive. Yeah, it’s against the rules for the coach to do that, but owing to the stupidity of having a coach present who isn’t allowed to coach, most chair umpires ignore it. Ramos didn’t. That’s his right, of course, but the final of a Grand Slam seems like an odd time to crack down.
The racket smash was all Serena. Ramos had no part in that, and that’s a violation in which the umpire has no discretion. You break your frame, you get a penalty. Every time. And two violations equal a point penalty. Every time.
Where this gets ugly is with the third violation. Ramos knew she was mad, and EVERYONE knew she was getting outplayed. Defeat loomed large on the horizon. The decent thing to do would have been to issue a verbal warning. Something like, “You’re treading on dangerous ground. If you get a third violation, it’s a game penalty. Let’s continue, please.” I don’t know if it would have diffused the situation, but it WOULD have shown a desire by Ramos to preserve the integrity of the final and would have given him absolution. As we all know, that isn’t what he chose to do.
Serena annoyed him, so he used his position of authority and the rules themselves to punish her, and in so doing, completely derailed the match. She was doing a fine job of hanging herself, and he rather gleefully nudged the last couple of inches of rope in her direction. Was he required to issue a verbal warning? Of course not (obviously). But it was the right thing to do. Instead he chose to be spiteful–and isn’t that how bullies operate?
The only party NOT complicit in the crap show that was the final was Naomi Osaka. And let it be said right here: she was MAGNIFICENT throughout the tournament. Clearly the best player of the fortnight. That she was robbed of fully enjoying her moment is on Serena and Ramos.
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good points
also how do we know what Ramos was saying to Serena? How do we know he didn’t warn her that she was close to a verbal abuse warning?
I’m making an educated guess based on both her and Osaka’s surprise when the game penalty was imposed.
That and the microphones and cameras miss very little.
Great article Cheryl.
No code violations for Fed cursing umpire at 2009 USO final or telling umpire at AO that his ruling was a “Bulls**t” call.
No code violation for Rafa who threatened Carlos Bernardes that he would no longer umpire his matches.
For me, this is about a different standard set between men and women.
There is a difference there. Fed called the rulling somehow, not the umpire personally. I can say ‘your behaviour is silly/ you are stupid’. Those 2 are very different.
There are different types of Code Violations (never said otherwise).
Audible Obscenity
i) A player shall not use an audible obscenity while on-site. Audible obscenity is defined as the use of words commonly known and understood to be profane and uttered clearly and loudly enough to be heard.
Opinion: Try reading the poll here for starters. Add up the numbers. Very little support for Serena. Go read Tennis channel. Despite the initial support from the TC/ESPN commentators, again very little reader support for Serena. Latest article there (Steve Flink) totally in support of Ramos. And the more recent ESPN commentary is also against her. That’s about it for my reading/viewing, maybe you can find more support for her. Try her twitter channel?
Federer was given a warning and fined for his “audible obscenity” in 2009. He did not persist or commit further violations. I don’t know about the rest of your rather ancient examples. Tennis has had its share of star jerks and then some and most of them were male. No argument there!
How do you give a “soft warning” to someone who alternately forbids you to talk to her and then demands you apologize and take back the warning/penalty? Like that would EVER happen. Serena was WAY past “soft”. Note that Ramos did give the third ‘game’ penalty on Osaka’s serve. If he’d wanted to be really vindictive he could have done it on Serena’s. Serena’s been playing pro tennis for almost 25 years. She ought to know the rules by now.
Btw Rafa didn’t make a threat to Bernardes. It was a promise and he made good on it. He also removed the ban a few months later. But he wasn’t upset about any penalties nor did he continue to argue, harangue or sulk. Bernardes was “forcing” him to change his shorts on court, which is itself a violation of the rules btw. Worse, Bernardes appeared to be amused by the situation. Rafa said it was disrespectful. Right or wrong, disrespect is a major sin in the Nadal playbook. But I’ll bet Rafa never again leaves the locker room without checking his shorts first. 🙂
There was no code violation for Federer in 2009. I’ve already posted the video showing before, during and after he used two obscenities.
No code violation for Federer.
And you were wrong that no men let it go so far as to not get a game penalty. In fact, they do much worse because the umpires all tolerate a lot more and try to manage the situation better before assigning the game penalty. My examples span all time. Wasn’t aware that Fognini, Nadal Bernardes incident and Shapovalov Janowicz were ancient.
Its not everyone. Far from it.
Roddick was a perfect example where the umpire tried to calm him down before a violation which wasn’t for a game.
The difference here is that Serena persisted. It is more socially acceptable for a male to argue than a female so when a woman is as forceful in arguing, she’s judged more critically than a man.
My examples speak for themselves and there’s plenty of support for her stance that sexism was involved.
Ramos failed to better manage the situation.
I can see that you have made up your mind that this was all Serena’s fault and the whole world agrees so I’ll agree to disagree.
I’m not absolving her behaviour at all. She should have known that the umpire wasn’t saying she cheated (as should you) when she received the coaching violation. She shouldn’t have broken her racquet. As for her behaviour, she is human and I can’t speak as to how I’d behave in her shoes.
All that said, sexism was involved in my opinion and Ramos failed to warn her for a game penalty in a slam final.
It was within Ramos’ control to have tried but instead he made sure without trying that we had the disappointing end we did. All the boos in the stadium were for Ramos. He wasn’t even part of the ceremonies because the USTA knew that it would only inflame the situation.
He blew it.
Credit to Serena for calming the crowd at the end.
You are incorrect, actually. Federer DID get a code violation and a $10,000 fine. The difference there is that he didn’t have any other code violations, so there was no immediate penalty, just the fine. Same thing with Rafa. Neither of them broke a racket or got a coaching call.
The problem for Serena is that she had multiple “infractions”.
A $1500 joke fine at the ’09 USO, yes.. Code violation? Absolutely not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daBVoYGAl2U
In 2018 Australia, CoCo was fined $10,000.
No code violation for Fed’s “Bulls&*t call” at the Umpire in his 2018 Berdych match when the umpire said Fed played the ball before the out call (which was out anyways). And no $10,000 fine for that.
Right. I forgot it was $1500. LOL. Complete joke. The problem is that it’s hard to prove that the fines were different because one was Roger and one was Serena. It’s just as feasible that the fines were different because one was Garner and one was Ramos.
But there were no code violations in the three Fedal examples I gave.
If Federer doesn’t get a first code violation in 2009, no way does he get a game penalty for the same comment he made had he racked up two prior. Same for the other two examples.
Yes. I can assure you that I also know how multiple code violations work. 🙂
My point is that you’re talking about Bernardes and Garner. If you can go back and find a time when Garner, for example, threw out a code violation for a woman when he didn’t with Roger, you’d have a case.
Look at it this way. You would never (in a million years) expect Layhani to react the same way as…say…Fergus Murphy. Two different umpires. One wants to be everyone’s friend, the other…doesn’t.
As a general trend, there’s a definite case.
Cornet’s shirt change, French Open passing judgement on Serena’s tennis outfit (this is supposed to be a sport), Genie Bouchard’s #twirlgate, and that game penalty given the context.
I’ll side with Serena, James Blake and BJK on the position that there’s indeed a double standard at play.
I understand how multiple infractions work and that’s my point.
Firstly, they don’t get verbal code violations in finals of a slam (see 2009 USO final reference) and no way would they get a game penalty in a championship final the way Serena did.
Different standard.
Cheryl,
Great analysis of how this debacle unfolded. The coaching violation was unnecessary. But Serena just took it so personally. Ramos was not calling her a cheater. It was her coach. But she never really seemed able to let go of it.
I am wondering whether she was fully aware that she was close to a game penalty. Tgecway she kept going after Ramos and demanding an apology, she was playing with fire. I still say it was the fact that she was being clearly outplayed and had no answers. She was rattled.
I wish it had not come to penalizing her a game. But I really wish that Osaka did not have to be the victim here and have her well earned victory initially overshadowed by Serena and Ramos. They both made mistakes and it all spiraled out of control into something ugly.
NNY – I don’t think she WAS aware. I think she was just mad and acting immaturely. She was flat-out shocked when she looked up at the scoreboard and saw 3-5.
Cheryl,
So you thought the same thing. I have to believe if she knew that she had two code violations and anything else would be a game penalty, that she might have pulled back. Usually players are well aware of how many code violations they have. Then they can tread lightly.
Serena just got so caught up in this business of her being called a cheater. She lost the focus and made it something it was not.
There are male tennis players weighing in on this controversy.Andy Roddick said he has said far worse and not gotten a game penalty. On MSNBC today, a female journalist recounted an incident with Andre Agassi in which he called the chair umpire a SOB, used the F-word and spat at him without getting a game penalty.
Novak Djokovic gets it when asked in his post match presser:
“But I have my personal opinion that maybe the chair umpire should not have pushed Serena to the limit, especially in a Grand Slam final. Just maybe changed — not maybe, but he did change the course of the match. Was, in my opinion, maybe unnecessary. We all go through our emotions, especially when you’re fighting for a Grand Slam trophy.”
#AjdeNole
He’s right. Ramos was a bully.
Ramos was angry. She’d already played her last card: banning him from her matches. From a top player that’s nasty – they play a lot of matches and it means he won’t be officiating at the end of tournaments. It’s money out of his pocket. I think he was happy to dock her the game. They both lost control of their tempers. Very unprofessional but players are human. Umpires aren’t supposed to be but they are.
He was certainly insensitive , just followed the letter of the law .Many examples of players getting away with far worse.
But Novak also said he didn’t belive it was sexism at play…
“ Novak Djokovic empathises with both umpire Carlos Ramos and Serena Williams following the American’s US Open meltdown… but the Serbian does not believe sexism was at play”
WTA chief backs up Serena Williams’ claim of sexism during US Open final and calls for ‘players to be treated the same’ – but Novak Djokovic does not think there is double standard
Djokovic empathised with both the umpire and Williams, but offered the view that ‘maybe the chair umpire should not have pushed Serena to the limit.’
However he was less sympathetic on the wider point of whether men and women players are treated differently by those in the chair.
‘I don’t see things as Mr Simon does, I really don’t,’ said Djokovic. ‘I think men and women are, you know, treated in this way or the other way depending on the situation. It’s hard to generalise things, really. I don’t see it’s necessary really to debate that.’
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-6152383/amp/Novak-Djokovic-empathises-umpire-Serena-Williams-doesnt-believe-sexism-play.html
It doesn’t surprise me. Umpiring is VERY often situational and it depends greatly on the person occupying the chair. He himself has been issued a violation by Ramos for swearing in Serbian and gesturing at him, so he’ll not see it as something motivated at all by gender.
I would imagine if you asked Andy Murray the same question, he would have a very different answer. Murray is sensitive to sexism in tennis. He’d probably agree with the WTA.
but this wasn’t sexism and Murray probably doesn’t view it as such
if he did, then yes he would certainly speak up
…and you know this wasn’t sexism because…
If it wasn’t sexism, why are umpires considering boycotting Serena Williams matches when they’ve never considered the same action against any male player?
#Rhetorical
Er, they’ve never considered this action against ANY player so far as I know so that hardly makes it “sexism”. Call it “Serena-ism”.
Look, Serena fully expected to win that match and there was a whole lot riding on it for her. She got beat at her own game and she couldn’t handle it. I don’t even think she melted down. She provoked the confrontations, she wouldn’t let go – EVERY male player has backed down short of a game penalty – Serena played the sympathy card in the name of women’s rights and it, initially at least, worked in the USA. World opinion is against her.
As for her “not being a cheater” tirades, what a laugh. Was her coach sending signals into the ether? Yes “everybody” this side of Roger Federer does it, but they don’t lie about it. It was egregious, it appeared to be affecting the match. Ramos was right to call it. And yes, Serena SAW it, and tried to pass it off as a “thumbs up”. She cheated and she lied and she did it all for $$$.
How do you conclude that it hardly makes it sexism? Have you never seen Roddick completely lose it on an umpire? Or McEnroe? Or Fognini telling Lahyani to come down from his chair and threatening him if he lost the match and another match calling the umpire a “wh*re”?
Male players DON’T have to back down to begin with because they violate the code and don’t get code violations. Federer cursed the umpire in the 2009 USO final and 2017 AO and Rafa told Bernardes he wouldn’t umpire his matches anymore. No code violations.
“World opinion is against her.”
Patently false. Please provide a definition of World opinion. Certainly you are not including the majority of fans in the stadium, the WTA and the USTA, James Blake and Billie Jean King.
“As for her “not being a cheater” tirades, what a laugh. Was her coach sending signals into the ether? Yes “everybody” this side of Roger Federer does it, but they don’t lie about it.”
So why was it Serena’s only coaching violation in her career? And why was Venus’ single career coaching violation called by the very same umpire? And how do you know she lied about it?
And this gets no code violation??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-3Un4VV8QY
You’ve lost the plot Ramara.
“EVERY male player has backed down short of a game penalty”
Wrong. Unless you know something about Jerzy that I don’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WMjB-L7TPU
Also John McEnroe is male.
Here Roddick goes completely off on the umpire and the umpire spends time trying to talk him down but Roddick goes on and on refusing to stop until the umpire has no choice to give him a code violation (and this is only his first warning so no impact but the umpire tries to show discretion). Then Roddick as the match goes on continues to stare down the umpire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntzEeN9oa1w
Ramos made no effort to warn Williams even though a game penalty was at risk in a slam final at a critical juncture.
Ramos failed to do his job.
Not even a code violation for this Connors explosion including calling the umpire an abortion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=296&v=PlgJtyUIhqM
Ramos, Moratoglou and Serena can all share the blame. After the first warning about “coaching” Serena should have gone about trying to win the match.
But no, she subsequently went on to destroy her racquet.
She then continues to insist on an apology from Ramos. He could have warned her if she continued to berate him she would receive a third violation. She should know the rules. Why risk the loss of a game when you are so far behind?
Thank goodness Naomi was concentrating on her game. She had no idea what was going on, she said.
As far as coaching goes, just because someone else does it doesn’t make it right and why bring another player’s name into the fracas? And another coach’s name?
Yes. Poorly done by Patrick to drag Rafa and Toni into the conversation when they had nothing to do with it.
Agreed. I’ve never been a fan of his.
Cheryl,
Yes that was one thing that bothered me with Patrick bringing up Rafa and Uncle Toni for coaching. That was not relevant and did not make it okay. He even said that Osaka’s coach was giving signals throughout the match. That’s just bush league. Own it.
Well there is a context to his final game penalty isn’t there and that is that he was harsh to give the first code violation for coaching in the first place. Ramos isn’t a fool he knew that he had been harsh and that all later actions followed on from his original decision. So he should have contextualized that and tried to defuse the situation. Instead he chose to take the harshest action knowing full well he had been harsh in the first place. This kind of intolerance is not only bullying but it is how sexism operates ie women being judged by completely different standards where any perceived stepping out of line is met with punitive sanctions.
Well said, Amy.
I left a congrats post for you Rc on the other thread!!
#14 tied with Sampras!!
Sad for Delpo though…
Belated thank-you, amy. Hope you are well.
I know it was sad for Delpo. But he’ll keep trying. He’s still (relatively) young..
Nothing more for me to say about Serena. And I think people should just write more about Osaka! 😀 She deserves the attention. Congrats to her!
Amy nails it again. Well said. A good umpire would have recognized the coaching call was harsh which he should have weighed into the third code violation.
Instead he doubled down because she persisted.
Whether Serena was bullied or not is up for debate. She was bullying the umpire and that can be debated also. She was being outplayed by a 20 year old who bookies and Serena thought wasn’t suppose to play that well. Frustration, that was evident.
That being said, what I think needs to change is the inconsistencies of the umpires. That Ramos decided at that time to be the “All Powerful Oz” was probably not the best move. But it’s not the first time I have ever seen umpires make questionable calls at inappropriate times.
Bottom line, the same rules apply to all, all of the time, no matter who you are or they don’t apply at all.
how do you bully a person who threatened to shove a ball down the lineswoman’s throat?
if it wasn’t for usta, thugrena would’ve been permabanned from tennis long time ago. Ramos did the right thing, he took care of the non-complying player with authority.
the title is comical, inaccurate and i dare say malicious (at least 1st half of it).
the coaching rule is not stupid, it is there for a reason. this is what separates classy players from cheaters and thugs. enforce the rule equally for both, men and women and go hard after offenders.
your post is poor writing of nonsensical in usual. of that said, Faderer was P.E.D.erer.
of course faderer cheated by pointing to the wrong mark on the clay against the GOAT and taking bathroom break when the sun was in his eyes. faderer a thug for cursing at umpires and players, breaking racquets and yelling at fans to shut up and admitting to tanking. Also classless after losing to djoko at uso calling him desperate and lucky to win.
#PeurFloor
Congrats to Naomi Osaka, amazing woman.
She outplayed Serena.
Serena is a drama queen, a sore loser I used to like her but I am disappointed in her.
Noami could not enjoy her first Grand Slam properly because of this sore loser.
Congrats Naomi!
You deserved this trophy and she was the better player throughout the match, Serena was beaten like a little girl, she ruined Naomi’s celebration.
I know she told the useless biased fans who were booing not to boo but that’s what drama queens do, they start the fire and then pretend like they are innocent.
F..king loser.
Speaking of “F..king loser”
https://tenngrand.com/2017/01/09/kyrgios-wears-f-donald-trump-shirt-following-win-nadal/comment-page-11/#comment-250323
Your reply with the definition of “baby” on that thread made me laugh my ass off 😂
Thanks Benny. There are some real gems in that thread.
Please never take anything I say about Federer seriously. I could just as easy trot out stupid and lazy false comments about any player commonly posted on every tennis forum. I just like to lampoon them.
Federer is a great player obviously and his unique style along with Rafa’s will be sorely missed by any real tennis fan when they are gone.
You’ll never see me criticize Federer’s talent, style or technique however.
Great fedfans like yourself, Kevin and Eugene don’t criticize Rafa either which separates y’all from the rest. Shout out to fedfan Scoot D who sticks to tennis.
Hahah don’t worry hawks I won’t. I know you too are a great sensible tennis fan like most others on here (not all unfortunately). And I can detect your sarcasm (most of the time😅) and it’s hilarious.
You’re welcome My fan.
#Humb2e
Tennis has made great strides since the 70’s and 80’s, mainly thanks to technology replacing human line callers. But it can’t eliminate human judgment entirely. In this case, the umpire went by the book but made a terrible judgment, effectively ruining the integrity of the match.
Serena was boorish as she often is, but she (and the top male players) can get away with it because they are the stars.
My suggestion: impose mandatory fines for code violations, and make them big enough to hurt. Imo, Serena wrecked that final as much as Ramos through her bad behaviour. But rather than be docked a game at a crucial juncture, I’d rather she be hit with a 1 million dollar fine. Set an example once for a player that can afford it (like her, Fed, or Novak), and that kind of behaviour will disappear.
Just what did Serena get away with again? That’s a rhetorical question by the way. Not looking for an answer.
(Seriously though, you just keep outdoing yourself.)
It doesn’t matter if it’s a 500 WTA/ATP match or a slam final. That’s double standard. Every games should be judges the same. Uporea must follow some strict regulations, so they are covered by them, no matter who is being penalized (men, women, stars or a 150 rank player). If the umpire was sexist or mean to her, what about Serena? What respect did she shoe to the crowd,Naomi and everyone with that behaviour?
Well said, Eugene! Fully agree with you!
I thought Serena ought to apologize to Osaka snd to millions of fans around the world who were watching the game! What did we do wrong to have to endure such barbaric behavior! I am Rafa fan but if he was the one acting the way Serena did I would have said the same. She should have been fined 1 mill $ so that she remembers next time she decides to insult the umpire like that!
And thank god ITF made the righteous decision by backing Ramos over Serena rant!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/tennis/45477764
James Blake on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JRBlake/status/1038634975715831808
More James Blake Retweeted Ramona Shelburne
I will admit I have said worse and not gotten penalized. And I’ve also been given a “soft warning” by the ump where they tell you knock it off or I will have to give you a violation. He should have at least given her that courtesy. Sad to mar a well played final that way.James Blake added,
Ramona Shelburne
Verified account
@ramonashelburne
Would be nice if some of Serena’s male counterparts had her back and admitted they’ve said a lot worse to the umpire. I know I’ve heard A LOT worse from NBA players directed at refs.
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Chris Krueger
@CKrueger22
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Sorry James, but referees in many sports don’t care if they get cussed at, called names, whatever. They really care when someone calls into question their integrity. Calling a referee a cheat is probably the worst you can say to them. But what would I know, I only ref pro soccer
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James Blake
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I understand that. I also understand your condescending attitude. Not appreciated. But I have said that and worse and not been penalized. That was my point. I got “soft warnings”. But what do I know, I just played pro tennis.
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Chris Krueger
@CKrueger22
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You told a referee he was a cheat, or he obviously wanted the other player to win?
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James Blake
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Yes
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Chris Krueger
@CKrueger22
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So you feel you probably deserved more than a warning, correct?
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James Blake
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I got a “soft warning” and told if I continued down that path, I would be penalized and fined. Problem solved. If I continued, I knew the consequences. That’s how a good umpire handled it.
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Chris Krueger
@CKrueger22
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Do you think maybe her previous encounters with other referees, line judges might have played a part? And you also probably weren’t given two prior warnings in the match. I’m just saying, it isn’t his fault for doing his job. It’s hers for losing her cool.
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James Blake
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Replying to @CKrueger22
It’s his fault for not using restraint in doing his job at this point. It’s her fault for smashing her racquet and she was punished accurately for that
RC Have to ask were you on FB the other day, i just want to know as i left you a PM, if it wasnt you then i think youve been hacked, just wanted to let you know …
Imagine a Fedfan writing this kind of things about any other player:
‘your post is poor writing of nonsensical in usual. of that said, Faderer was P.E.D.erer.
of course faderer cheated by pointing to the wrong mark on the clay against the GOAT and taking bathroom break when the sun was in his eyes. faderer a thug for cursing at umpires and players, breaking racquets and yelling at fans to shut up and admitting to tanking. Also classless after losing to djoko at uso calling him desperate and lucky to win.
#PeurFloor’
Would his/her comment go unobserved?
Imagine Rick somehow manages to filter these kind of miseries. Wouldn’t it be nice to visit this place again?
andyroddick
✔
@andyroddick
I’ve regrettably said worse and I’ve never gotten a game penalty
victoria azarenka
✔
@vika7
If it was men’s match, this wouldn’t happen like this.
It just wouldn’t
I just read Martina Navratilova’s take on SerenaGate, an Opinion in the NY Times, linked by Ricky on his twitter account. She makes very good points, in my opinion, particularly about bringing tennis standards UP, not down to match the behavior of some men.
I have watched this match 3 times now. When the first violation was given, Serena took it personally and explained she was not a cheater. Conversation was cordial between Ramos and Serena.
Game continues in a normal manner.
When she broke her racket and given the second violation, she was surprised and argues the point. Not sure if she understood the sequence of rules at that time. They argue , but again the match when on. It wasn’t until Naomi broke back that she totally lost it. She continues to argue with him throughout the break. He turned away twice after calling him a liar and did not engage with her, but she was a roll by then, pointing her finger at him, demanding an apology. The third time she started her tirade and called him a thief and said he will never officiate her matches again, he took a game away. She wouldn’t let it go and he had had enough.
Yep! It was difficult to watch! Ramos looked as he was about to start crying.,.we should never let this happen again in tennis! I have always admired what Serena did in tennis but this was a huge disappointment in her. During her argument with Ramos at first I was shocked and felt embarrassed for her but as her outbursts and threats went on and on I started to feel angry and sad for this kid Osaka…Serena just couldn’t handle the fact that she was being clearly outplayed out there…
If Serena was leading the match she wouldn’t have reacted that way. She was annoyed to be outplayed so well by Naomi.
She should think about not spoiling her image as one of greatest player ever. Who is wrong is less important. What’s her last mark on tennis is more important.
According to a new set of figures, men have received almost 3 times as many code violations as women in the last 20 Grand Slams.
Men are responsible for 86% of racket abuse violations, and just under 80% of verbal abuse violations, but women are almost twice as likely as men to be censured for coaching violations.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/ramos-returns-to-chair-after-serena-dramas-as-stats-back-him-up-20180914-p503ot.html
That just may be the worst interpretation and conclusion from statistics that I’ve ever read. Sad state that whoever the publisher is, allowed it. Is there no critical thinking in the media anymore?
Can anyone see the fallacy in that conclusion?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Not by the poster above just to be clear, but by the writer of that headline especially.
Hint:
“Take racket abuse, which constituted the second of Williams’s three offences. Men are responsible for more than 86 per cent of these code violations.” This is a MANDATORY violation which means it’s ALWAYS called. This means men break 6X more racquets than women.
Aha! Proof that Serena really IS a man!
Another great article from an alien from another planet apparently (also confirms that Federer had no code violation when he berated the umpire and used two verbal obscenities).
https://moneyish.com/ish/one-million-more-people-watched-serena-williams-match-than-the-mens-match/
#ShePersisted.
1) Serena is American. Casual sports fans will watch big name Americans even if they don’t routinely watch the sport
2) Sunday was the first day of the NFL season so tennis was in direct competition with American football. Guess who wins? (The men’s final was a bit of a dud but the football game I watched was much worse. Much, much worse.)
Billie Jean King Verified account
@BillieJeanKing
“In a study conducted on job applicants, researchers found that expressing anger benefitted men by increasing their perceived influence. If hired, those men were given more power & autonomy in their job. The opposite was true for women.”
Serena’s Not Alone. Women Are Penalized for Anger at Work, Especially Black Women.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/sports/serena-williams-discrimination-black-women.html
Roddick was called for a foot fault during the U.S. Open in 2010. Roddick repeatedly ridiculed the lineswoman who called the fault, even though replays showed he did cross the line. Despite this, Roddick began to swear multiple times and questioned the quality of the officiating.
He was not penalized, and when the set was over, the lineswoman was replaced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWss8qXTjJk
At 3:28, Djoko screaming at the umpire for making the correct call. Umpire eventually tells Djoko we can review after the match but he was sure he made the right call. No code violation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seAz6f63KG8
At 6:30, note that the so-called consistently strict Ramos shows leniency and had given Nole a quiet warning (why didn’t Serena deserve the same in the final of a Grand Slam with a GAME penalty on the line?). Ramos eventually gives a code violation after Djoko motions to hit a ball at him. Djoko continues to berate Ramos including “you’re losing your mind” with no additional code violation (which would have only been for a point). Yet both Serena and Venus only had one coaching violation in their careers – both by Ramos.
#ShePersisted
Here Roddick breaks a racquet and Lahyani is not planning to give him a code (despite it being a mandatory call). Roddick asks if he’s given a warning yet and Lahyani says not unless you continue.
This is laughably obvious and sad that Serena is judged to a different standard.
Here Roddick gets a point penalty for smacking the ball out of the court in anger.
He the goes on to argue with the chair telling Bernardes to stop trying to make himself sound important with no code violation because it would have been a game penalty.
At 12:00 mark, Dolgo argues with Ramos and tells Ramos “What do you mean you didn’t think. That’s a sh$tty decision.”
Again, no code violation from the so-called consistently strict Ramos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNYXhEt51cE
Yet the Williams sisters both had their lone career coaching violation calls from one umpire – Ramos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNYXhEt51cE
Consistently sexist maybe.
#ShePersisted
Serena’s husband gets it. Anyone who buys that dumb conclusion from those stats needs to think more critically.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2018/09/17/serena-williams-husband-alexis-ohanian-attacks-misleading-reporting/