On Saturday, during the US Open, Serena Williams accused the umpire of ‘sexism’ as she was penalised for ‘cheating’ during the match.

On Saturday the 8th of September, Serena Williams was accused of conversing with her coach during the match. The coach admitted to gesturing to her, even though it is classed as cheating, but he added that ‘I don’t think she even looked at me’ when he spoke to BBC News on Saturday.

During the second set Williams had an outburst after she received a code violation for coaching during the match, a violation for smashing her racket and a penalty for calling the umpire a ‘liar’ and a ‘thief’.

She later accused the umpire of being ‘sexist’ towards her because ‘he has never taken a game off of a man for saying ‘thief”.  She added that she was ‘fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and all kinds off stuff’ and that she ‘would rather lose than cheat’.

Surprisingly, Serena was fined £13,000 over her actions.

After the event

Further development had taken place throughout the weekend as on Sunday morning on the front of the Australian newspaper ‘The Herald Sun’, there featured a rather controversial picture that has sparked outcry throughout the world. Mark Knight has defended his cartoon of the 23-grand slam winner as he believed that it effectively outlined the player’s ‘poor behaviour’ on Saturday.

The cartoon has a large black woman with overly exaggerated lips and nose, this resembling Jim Cow depictions during the US era of discrimination. It also shows Serena Williams stomping on a smashed up tennis racket with a babies pacifier close by. Wright and the newspaper back the cartoon as they believe it depicts Williams behaviour during the match.

This has sparked controversy across Twitter with Harry Potter writer, JK. Rowling, tweeting that she believes that it’s ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’.

Recently, Billie Jean King, a former Women’s No.1, has come forward to say that she believes that Serena was ‘out of line’ but she also said that the umpire had ‘blew it’. King had originally backed Williams by saying that ‘When a woman is emotional, she is hysterical and she’s penalised for it. When a man does the same he is outspoken and there are no repercussions.’

Match Winner

The match ended with Naomi Osaka winning with 6 sets and four games to Serena’s 6 sets to 2 games but her win seemed to be overshadowed by Serena’s outburst. Before the outburst, Naomi had dominated the first set against an opponent she described as her idol. During the second half Osaka stayed focused and didn’t really know what was going on between Serena and the Umpire. After Naomi’s win, she admitted to bursting into tears during the post-match award ceremony, but was comforted by Serena during the ceremony. Not exactly the best atmosphere for Japan’s first grand-slam winner.

  • By Anna Lloyd, Team Reporter 
  • Sources: The BBC and The Independent

 

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