“Is it the right way to behave?” When Martina Navratilova questioned Serena Williams’ behaviour on court for calling the chair umpire Ramos ‘a thief’
Follow Us
Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams
Serena Williams, the winner of 23 Grand Slam titles, returned to competitive tennis in May 2018 to compete in the French Open. Her comeback was no small feat. Williams underwent a pulmonary embolism and subsequent hematoma after giving birth to her daughter in September 2017. But in August 2018, one of the best players in the history of women’s tennis was ready to reclaim her throne at the US Open. Williams battled to the finals where she faced Naomi Osaka, a Japanese-born prodigy who was then 21 years old and a player who idolized the American.
The stage was set for an intense battle between the two competitors but soon after the match started, it turned into chaos as the chair umpire Carlos Ramos and Serena got engaged in a heated verbal exchange. Serena accused Ramos of being sexist and racist before the match was over.
In the second set of matches Williams lost by 6-2, 6-4, Ramos first gave her a warning for getting help from her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, which raised her anger, then later deducted her a point for smashing her racket in frustration after losing a game. Williams went on to scold the umpire for being a “thief” and falsely accusing her of cheating, leading to a game penalty that increased her deficit from 4-3 to 5-3. The whole controversy between the two overshadowed Osaka’s first-ever Grand slam title celebrations.
Also read: Swiss Open 2022: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction
Martina Navratilova accused Serena Williams of ‘misbehaving’ on the court
Martina Navratilova, a former Czech-American women’s tennis player, represented the Czech Republic before 1975 and USA after 1975 and is considered among the best tennis player in tennis. Martina is a 59-times grand slam champion in singles (18), doubles (31) and mixed (10) categories. She dominated tennis between the 1970s and 1980s. She has a record 177 titles to her name and has a 747-143 win-loss ratio.
Navratilova who was not happy with Serena’s behaviour in the game went so far as she wrote an editorial for the New York Times in which she argued that, in complaining post-match that Ramos would not have reacted the same way to a hostile male player, Williams missed the point and she would have concluded the match with some respect for the reputation of the game.
“I don’t believe it’s a good idea to apply a standard of ‘If men can get away with it, women should be able to, too,’ Rather, I think the question we have to ask ourselves is this: What is the right way to behave to honor our sport and to respect our opponents?” Martina said.
“It’s difficult to know, and debatable, whether Ms. Williams could have gotten away with calling the umpire a thief if she were a male player. But to focus on that, I think, is missing the point,” she said.
“If, in fact, the guys are treated with a different measuring stick for the same transgressions, this needs to be thoroughly examined and must be fixed. But we cannot measure ourselves by what we think we should also be able to get away with. In fact, this is the sort of behavior that no one should be engaging in on the cour,” she added.
Williams was fined $17,000 by the U.S. Tennis Association for her behavior, she also received a statement of support from the National Organization for Women, who labelled Ramos’s decision to issue the game penalty “a blatantly racist and sexist move,” adding, “This would not have happened if Serena Williams was a man.”
Follow our page FirstSportz Tennis for the latest updates
Stay Updated!
Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)