Serena Williams Victim of 'Double Standard' at U.S. Open Final
*By Amanda Weston*
A controversial series of calls penalizing tennis legend Serena Williams during Saturday's U.S. Open women's final may have been the latest sign of a sexist double standard in the sport.
"I can point to at least two men who have gotten into altercations with chair umpires, including Roger Federer of all people, who dropped a number of curse words on an umpire a few years back at the Open," Cindy Boren, sports reporter for the Washington Post, said Monday in an interview on Cheddar. "Jimmy Connors referred to an umpire 25 years ago at the Open as an abortion multiple times. Neither of them have been punished."
This weekend's drama unfolded as chair umpire Carlos Ramos cited Williams for separate code violations during her championship match against Japan's Naomi Osaka on Saturday. Her infractions ー coaching during the match, breaking her racket on the court, and "verbal abuse" ー resulted in progressively harsher punishments: first a warning, then a point penalty, and finally a whole game. Williams ultimately lost the contest in straight sets and was fined $17,000 for her behavior.
But as many pointed out, in-game coaching, while not allowed, is commonplace in tennis and rarely results in any action. And while Ramos appeared to take exception to being called a "thief" for docking Williams a point, many players are caught on mic saying much worse. Williams didn't hesitate to point out the discrepancy to the official, accusing Ramos of sexism.
While some suggested Williams chose the wrong moment to raise the issue, supporters like former pro Billie Jean King applauded her. The winner of the famous [Battle of the Sexes](https://www.billiejeanking.com/battle-of-the-sexes/) [tweeted](https://twitter.com/BillieJeanKing/status/1038613218296569856), "When a woman is emotional, she’s 'hysterical' and she’s penalized for it. When a man does the same, he’s 'outspoken' & and *(sic)* there are no repercussions. Thank you, @serenawilliams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same."
But this was not the only match this year to prompt accusations of sexism. French women's tennis player Alizé Cornet received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct at the start of the U.S. Open after briefly taking off her shirt, which was on backwards, [on the court](http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/24513634/us-open-clarifies-changing-shirt-rule-alize-cornet-penalty). The Grand Slam rule book says women should only change between sets in a bathroom. Men do not face the same rule.
The U.S. Open later said it regretted issuing the violation to Cornet.
Despite all the outrage on social media, Boren doubts change will be immediate, since the tennis tour "goes into hibernation" until the Australian Open in January.
"If this had happened, say, during the French Open just as the summer of Grand Slams was gearing up, I might have been a little more inclined to say that something might change," she said.
"Get back to me in January when we see where Carlos Ramos is."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/critics-point-to-double-standard-after-serenas-us-open-loss).
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