First of all, a happy and healthy new year to all of the Jewish subscribers in SU’s intergalactic subscriber base. Many are clamoring for SU to comment on the Serena Williams outburst from Saturday evening. Full disclosure: SU was watching but lost the cable TV signal for the key moments and has had to piece together what happened. But I think I get the gist of it. SU’s thoughts:
- Serena is the GOAT in women’s tennis. No question. Her dominance for so many years is incredible.
- SU has never been a fan of hers. From the beginning. I found her to be arrogant, self-absorbed; it’s always all about her. Until recently, she rarely gave credit to her opponent in losses. It’s always been about the way she played that day. I also accept that this attitude on the court has helped her become the champion she is.
- Serena has always felt that she was singled out and unfairly persecuted. This year in particular, she has commented several times that she is drug tested much more than any other player.
- The umpire that did her match has historically been tough on the men’s stars as well in their matches – especially Nadal. He is a stickler for the rules.
For me, Serena made the mistake of continuing to push and push and push in her comments with the umpire. She is correct that the men players will often complain to the umpire and make snide remarks in the heat of battle. SU has seen this but they have their say and move on. Most umpires allow the outburst, the blowing off of steam and then the match continues. Is there coaching in tennis? Apparently so. But Serena’s coach from what I saw was pretty open and obvious about it. For her to say that she never looks over is not believable. And she made the leap from coaching to “cheating.” I don’t think the tennis fan automatically equates coaching with cheating. At this level, SU doesn’t think whatever advice is coming from the friends’ box is not all that impactful. She didn’t let it go. From what I heard, she was abusive multiple times there during each changeover.
I also felt the quick move to make this about women’s rights seems to me to be more of convenience than her original intent. As SU said earlier, it’s always about her and I think that was the whole motivation here. She is a champion of women’s rights for sure but that wasn’t the initial goal. She is the same player who once threatened to stuff a tennis ball down the throat of a lines woman at the US Open in the Finals. There have been other occasions as she is very competitive.
The umpire could have given her a warning in his discussion with her and maybe he should have done that. SU thinks back in the NBA to the time that Amar’e Stoudamire, when he was on the Suns, took one step on the court when a fight broke out in the playoffs against San Antonio. The NBA suspended him for the next game and the Suns lost that series to the Spurs. Turned it all around but that was the rule. Serena’s point here is that men get away with much more. SU’s observation is that the men will make the remarks and move on. She, like a manager in baseball that is looking to get ejected, kept going and going and going. To SU, she earned what she got for that behavior and in the end, didn’t give the umpire a way out.
SU hated the way she took the spotlight off of Osaka who was thoroughly outplaying her. Serena ruined the moment for her – that was wrong. I know she tried to make things right in the trophy award ceremony but too late.
OK, what do you think? Was Serena wronged? Was she jobbed there?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Arrogance…never giving her opponent genuine credit….poor sport….deflecting her obvious selfish self centered ways and passive aggressive comments all over the place. I’m glad she lost and hope her losses continue.
I agree with you 100% Howard. What bothers me most is the way the powers that be in the tennis world have kow towed to Serena. It’s almost as if everyone is afraid to say a bad word about her. True, a ref or ump should never seek the spotlight and have an impact on the result of a game, especially a championship. But as you said, she really gave the Umpire no choice. She kept going on and on acting like a petulant child who can not take no for an answer, insisting over and over that the Ump apologize to her because she never cheats. Well, her coach admitted he was giving her signals yet Serena blatantly lied and said he just gave her a thumbs up. Worst of all, her treatment of Osaka, a young rising star at the pinnacle of her career, was disgraceful. Did Serena forget that she was getting her ass kicked in the match. Blame everyone but yourself, not the actions of a true champion. She has tarnished her legacy forever.
Your assessment of Serena is 100% on target. Her “I don’t cheat but if I did it’s ok because the men cheat” denial was laughable only topped that this is somehow a women’s rights topic. Last I checked she was playing a woman at the time and the men weren’t even in the stadium.
As a point of contrast, Djokovic took a new ball out of the rotation when he was serving to Del Potro because he didn’t think it would be fair even though it clearly would have given him an advantage. No way Serena does anything as classy as that.
Agree with your assessment. To continue your baseball analogy, you think the players know in advance before each game who the home plate umpire is and what his tendencies are- Serena and her coach should have known that Ramos was a by the rules kind of guy.
Good column by Navratilova in today’s NYT as well.
I’ve had it with her. She is probably the greatest player of all time, but she’s a bully and a phony. The official may have pulled the trigger too early, but it’s no different than an umpire with a tight strike zone or an NBA ref calling every little foul (not as bad as college refs awarding first downs in overtime to quarterbacks that are clearly short, but that’s another story). You can’t berate an official for 5 minutes non-stop, demand and APOLOGY from the official, then have the tournament ref come over and cry like a little baby and yell, “It’s not fair!” Just awful, and a shame for Osaka, who was probably going to win anyway and deserved her moment. And telling the crowd to stop booing doesn’t get her off the hook, in my opinion.
One last thing to add, thanks to the recommendation by longtime subscriber Josh Levine (whom I assume is SU’s sibling): a GREAT column by Martina in today’s Times, that I think objectively, and reasonably, sums up the situation, written by someone who has no agenda, male or female, black or white, gay or straight – all she cares about is doing what’s right for the sport. She was a great champion when she played and is probably a better person off the court.
SU nailed it!! And so did Martina.
Comments from WSJ readers:
Nathan Merrill from Colorado said: ‘‘Serena Williams wasn’t accused of cheating; her coach was correctly accused of coaching her (and he admitted it). The umpire could have tried to defuse and clarify the situation but he didn’t. She knows the penalty for smashing a racket. Ms. Williams is probably right about the inconsistent treatment of men vs. women, which should be addressed. The saddest thing is, Ms. Osaka will never experience the on-court thrill of being celebrated for winning a first major.’’
John Burk of California wrote: ‘‘Serena transformed the accurate call that her coach was coaching from the stands, a violation, into an attack on her honesty. Her anger and inappropriate behavior are a poor model, one that has consequences and, with proper enforcement of rules, is a lesson to tennis players everywhere.’’
Cathleen Ortolani from Pennsylvania shared: ‘‘Serena’s coach freely admitted he was coaching her from the stands and does it all the time. Serena should have accepted the warning with grace and focused on her game, which was under pressure from a terrific new force in tennis, Naomi Osaka. The U.S. Open officials at the award ceremony, the booing crowd and Serena’s lack of comportment led to a disgraceful moment in tennis that belongs in the USTA’s Hall of Shame. Congratulations, Naomi Osaka.’’