‘I would probably be in jail,’ Serena Williams calls out double standards in tennis over Alexander Zverev’s brain-fade moment in Acapulco
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Serena Williams and Alexander Zverev
World No.3 Alexander Zverev was thrown out of the Mexican Open in Acapulco after he misbehaved with the umpire after losing his first-round doubles match. Zverev was apparently not happy with one of the umpire’s calls in the match tie-breaker and after losing the match, he vigorously banged his racket on the umpire’s chair to an extent where the umpire had to avoid getting hurt.
The tournament was quick to note this action of Zverev and decided to suspend him even from the singles competition. Recently, American tennis legend, Serena Williams, who herself didn’t have the best relations with the umpire throughout her career, spoke about Zverev’s situation in Acapulco in an interview with CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour.
Serena said that everyone is different and it eventually boils down to one’s personality on how to react. “I think everyone’s different. It’s not necessarily about cracking, it is about passion and eventually boils down to your personality- I am who I am. I’m passionate about what I do,” the 23-time grand slam champion said.
She then called out the double standards in tennis. She said that she’d probably be in jail if she’d have done the same thing. “There is absolutely a double standard,” Williams said. “I would probably be in jail if I did that – like, literally, no joke.”
She also recalled an incident where she was on probation once, referring to the 2009 US Open incident. “I was actually on probation once,” she added. She got punished by the Grand Slam committee calling Williams’ behavior ‘aggravated’ during her 2009 US Open semi-final against the eventual champion, Kim Clijsters.
‘At the end of the day, I love who I am’: Serena Williams
Serena further added that she sometimes puts herself in such situations and thinks about the consequences. “You see that [double standard] when you see other things happening on the tour, like, wait – if I had done that? Hmm,’” she said with a smirk.
And eventually, Serena said that it’s all okay because she loves who she is and what she’s done over the year. She concluded by saying that she loves the impact she’s had on people and will continue doing the same.
“But it’s okay. At the end of the day, I am who I am, and I love who I am. I love the impact I’ve had on people and I love the impact I continue to have on people,” she said.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)