Serena Williams is a woman of power, elegance, and pure tenacity that no one can out play or surpass. Despite a few losses scattered on her record board, she is known for winning the most Grand Slam victories (a whopping number of 39 combining the 23 in singles, 14 in doubles, and 2 and mixed doubles) and is the most dominant tennis player in history.
As many know, being this well known and outspoken comes with its challenges, and Serena has been fighting an ongoing battle against racism and sexism since age 17. Recently, her match at the 2018 US Open has sparked controversy around the nation. Williams was defeated against Japan’s Naomi Osaka on Saturday, September 8 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York City. This match rocked the world with Osaka being the first Haitian-American and Japanese woman to win the US Open tennis tournament. This triumph for Haiti and Japan was eclipsed by the heated dispute between Williams and the umpire, Carlos Ramos, during the match.
During the match there were three code violations, in which the final one resulted in the loss of the game. Williams was issued a warning for prohibited coaching (her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou signaled to Williams from the stands), a second warning for breaking her racket, and a third for verbal abuse against the umpire. Even though Williams stood up for herself, telling the umpire, “You stole a point from me and you are a thief,” this created a debate of whether the ump was truly doing his job or whether Williams was out of line for speaking out against sexism in the sport.
These three violations left Williams with a $17,000 fine and once again caused people to question her demeanor and professionalism. Saying this, woman, especially woman of color, are treated differently in many areas of life outside of tennis. In sport, however, a woman’s reaction to unfair treatment is labeled as “hysterical” and she is penalized for it. When a man does the same thing their character isn’t attacked.
Statistics do show that men receive more point penalties than women. According to New.com.au, “Male players were slapped with 1517 fines compared to 535 fines for females according to data compiled by officials at Grand Slam tournaments for the period covering 1998 to 2018.” Men received more fines for breaking racquets, “audible obscenity,” and even bigger numbers for unsportsmanlike conduct. Just because the numbers are there, doesn’t excuse the mistreatment of women in tennis. Accusations of sexism don’t require statistical support to be valid and moral, and this shows throughout history.
Billie jean King, a former number one ranked tennis player and founder of the Women’s Tennis Association, faced much sexual discrimination and an abuse of power back in 1973. She beat her male counterpart, Bobby Riggs in the “battle of the Sexes” match and this event and her movement sparked the importance of gender equality for the generations of female athletes to follow her. She and many other women within tennis, who have faced adversity, believe strongly that they should always assert their beliefs and stand up for themselves. Williams told the Ramos on the court, “You owe me an apology. I have never cheated in my life! I have a daughter and I stand for what’s right for her,” Williams told Ramos on the court. “I don’t cheat to win. I’d rather lose.” This case of gender-biased is over looked like many others, and could still be prevalent in women’s tennis in the years to follow.
Williams later tried putting the focus back onto Osaka, who was boo’d by the crowd for her win and she even tried apologizing for her success of the night, and comforted her. Even though the crowd was unhappy, it should not take away the fact Osaka is a proud young woman who is achieving so much greatness within the tennis world. She and Williams both are paving a way for future female tennis players, and will surely inspire young women to speak up and play for their rights and fair treatment.