Serena's meltdown

Kivaro

Being an admirer of what she has done on court and proving that mothers can be excellent athletes after giving birth, a different side of Serena Williams may have been exposed in her outburst at the US Open yesterday.

But here's the deal after watching a number of reports of the incident, I am amazed by the amount of people rushing to support her. Experts in tennis validated the sanctions imposed by the umpire; yet still she publicly called him a liar and a cheat, and said that she was "here fighting for womens rights" and the umpire sanctioned her because she was a woman. She said if a man was on court, it would not have happened. So the umpire, according to Serena, was a sexist, liar, and cheat. And she said all of this on the court in front of a massive crowd and on live TV.

Speaking to the media after the event, she said it was "sexist" of the umpire to take a game away from her. "But I'm going to continue to fight for women.", she said. Some of her supporters have accused the umpire of being racist and that he was on a misogynistic power trip. Get a grip, it was a tennis game; not a human rights march.

You can go online to see her outbursts yesterday, but I find it mind boggling that so much these days is attributed to sexism/racism/whateverism when things don't go their way.

Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka, who became the first Japanese player to win a major singles final, was left in tears as a result of the incident.

suicide_circus

look, if anything bad happens to a black woman it's obviously because of racism and sexism. there can be no other explanation.

super_furry

Some people just can't handle losing, especially if they're not used to it. Serena knew she was losing to someone who was a better player on the day and she couldn't do anything about it. What we saw there was an epic tantrum and now she's just doubling down on it.

When you're that successful and have so many people surrounding you who tell you that you're always right, it's never going to be easy to blame yourself for your own defeat, especially when you really should.

Think the other factor here was the crowd. The US Open crowd are horrible, every bit as bat as the US Ryder Cup crowds and they cheered everything Serena did on court and in the row with the umpire, so they obviously left her feeling she was in the right.

OldMrBrennan83

Sore loser who will throw out whatever card she needs. On this occasion she feels the gender one will work better than the race one. Throw in some on-demand tears and jackpot.

Despicable individual.

Fann Linn

BlackLivesMatter:- more than everybody else.

Itssoeasy

Kivaro wrote: »

Being an admirer of what she has done on court and proving that mothers can be excellent athletes after giving birth, a different side of Serena Williams may have been exposed in her outburst at the US Open yesterday.

But here's the deal after watching a number of reports of the incident, I am amazed by the amount of people rushing to support her. Experts in tennis validated the sanctions imposed by the umpire; yet still she publicly called him a liar and a cheat, and said that she was "here fighting for womens rights" and the umpire sanctioned her because she was a woman. She said if a man was on court, it would not have happened. So the umpire, according to Serena, was a sexist, liar, and cheat. And she said all of this on the court in front of a massive crowd and on live TV.

Speaking to the media after the event, she said it was "sexist" of the umpire to take a game away from her. "But I'm going to continue to fight for women.", she said. Some of her supporters have accused the umpire of being racist and that he was on a misogynistic power trip. Get a grip, it was a tennis game; not a human rights march.

You can go online to see her outbursts yesterday, but I find it mind boggling that so much these days is attributed to sexism/racism/whateverism when things don't go their way.

Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka, who became the first Japanese player to win a major singles final, was left in tears as a result of the incident.

I didn't see it live but have seen the relevant video clips and regardless of whether it was sexist or not( I think that term gets thrown around too easy) and it seems Serena got called for actual violations. I do feel very sorry for Naomi Osaka though. Her first grand slam win and no one is talking about her it's all Serena. The one word I'd use is unsightly. It doesn't paint Serena and tennis is a great light.

uck51js9zml2yt

I had missed John McEnroe until today
Seems her coach came out and said he was coaching her during the game.

Who were the crowd booing, Serena or the umpire?

super_furry

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Who were the crowd booing, Serena or the umpire?

The umpire and then Osaka for daring to win. Horrible pricks.

Niles Crane

She got a warning for receiving coaching, Patrick Moratolgu admitted he was coaching her during the game so this warning was 100% justified.

She then received a second penalty (point deduction) for smashing her racket which is against the rules and is very black and white rule so the umpire had no option to not apply the penalty for racket abuse.

She then continued to abuse the referee constantly after this, her being docked a game wasn't for one instance of abuse it was for continuous abuse for quite a decent part of the second set, if she had just had a go at him and then got on with it I doubt she would have been given a 3rd offence and thus lost a game.She also called the ref a thief which is a bit much as it is really big no no in any sport to outwardly question the integrity of an official and claim he was trying to steal something from you.

People could argue that the first warning for coaching was a little harsh but Patrick Moratoglu shouldn't have been coaching her and he admitted he was which tells you that if her coach isn't even going to defend himself/her from this penalty that it was a pretty justified call.

Lots of players have received warnings over the years but they tend to deal with them in a more mature fashion and get on with it, part of me thinks she knew she was going to lose and decided to throw a strop so it couldn't be considered a proper defeat.

Her bringing sexism into it is disgraceful but of course she won't be called out for it by anyone in mainstream media and it just shows you how difficult the world is these days when every perceived slight against a woman is seen as being sexist and loads of people (women in particular) seem to be backing her up on the sexism angle.Proper feminists must be appalled with what has happened to the feminism movement in the last decade.

Couple of her lines from last night which shows how self absorbed she is:

I have a daughter I stand for whats right.
I never cheat , I'd rather lose than cheat (this from a woman who complained she was being drug tested too often)

It's almost the kind of dialogue that would feature in a really corny family drama.

I've never liked her and last night unfortunately she provided numerous reasons as to why I've never liked her regardless of how great a player she is.

thebaz

I was a terrible loser at sport , and I usually like Serena , but how was umpire sexist ??
even if he was against her , he would have been favouring another woman - think Serena needs to apologise , we are all human , and make mistakes.

Niles Crane

thebaz wrote: »

I was a terrible loser at sport , and I usually like Serena , but how was umpire sexist ??
even if he was against her , he would have been favouring another woman - think Serena needs to apologise , we are all human , and make mistakes.

I suspect It'll be a cold day in hell before that happens.

noodler

An absolute disgrace tbh.

Bret Hart

Why is coaching during a match not ok ?

The Rape of Lucretia

'Fighting for womens rights' is the go to defence for any woman having a hissy fit these days it seems.
Deserves a stronger sanction than just losing a point and a game - that kind of outburst is outrageous and was an extraordinarily selfish ruining of a great moment in Osaka's career - by all accounts she fully deserved her win against the odds, and it should have been nothing but a triumphant moment for her to enjoy rather than the brattish sideshow Williams made it.
Outrageous.

The Rape of Lucretia

Bret Hart wrote: »

Why is coaching during a match not ok ?

Because the rules for Grand slam tournaments for bid it. Whether they should or not is another topic, and not relevant to this case.

dxhound2005

Bret Hart wrote: »

Why is coaching during a match not ok ?

Because it is a sport for gentlemen.

Rikand

She's a sociopath. Pure and simple

Canis Lupus

I try not to get too bothered about what happens when two millionaires play a game of tennis together.

smurgen

It's typical modern yank pig headed behaviour in my eyes. They think they're bigger than the sports and they're completely bought into the imagine that's been manufactured by PR people about them. Here you have the biggest player in the game acting as a victim and spouting crap about her daughter etc. Reaks of the type of crap lance armstrong used bang on about using his cancer as a shield against criticism.
I'd also wager her fairytale return to tennis is drug fueled much like lances.maybe all the steroid use is giving her mood swings and tantrums like that yesterday will be common from now on.

Mookie Blaylock

Laura Old Bacon wrote: »

I had missed John McEnroe until today
Seems her coach came out and said he was coaching her during the game.

Seems he also said , she didn't even see him trying and she bore that out as well

squawker

acting like a spoiled child does not equal sexism

hope she receives a huge fine and is forced to apologize for her disgusting behaviour

dxhound2005

She also told the umpire that he would never umpire again when she is playing. I wonder how will that turn out.

AudreyHepburn

Why is it so hard for women to accept that not every misfortune that happens to them is the fault of men?

I don’t know much about tennis but by all accounts Osaka won fair and Williams was way out of bounds.

ELM327

She's like lewis hamilton in F1 and any of the many black american football players.
When they win it's great but when they lose it's because they're black
Or god forgive, black and female.

She's had a hissy fit, you think she'd show some maturity and come out and admit as such. What sort of a crap example is this setting for her child.

Richard Hillman

Not the first time

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/usopen/6181998/US-Open-2009-Serena-Williams-loses-to-Kim-Clijsters-after-point-penalty-for-foul-mouth-outburst.html


Times have changed though. She can do whatever she likes now with the likes of Twitter and Google filtering sympathetic output.

She's a true great of sport but has behaved disgracefully in the last 12 or so hour's.

TheValeyard

Not fair on Naomi Osaka who won. People should be talking about her win and not the temper tantrum. An experienced and professional player like Serena Williams should and does know better.

DeanAustin

Absolutely no class. She was getting hockeyed and somehow managed to make this about her.

To bang on about sexism is just cringey to be honest. Can’t believe anyone is buying into it. I hope she gets some sort of punishment from the WTA because she is well out of line here.

I feel sorry for Osaka because hers is a wonderful achievement. It’s a shame Serena’s ego ruined it for her.

disgraceful, especially when you consider her net worth.

doolox

Oh the irony.

Never really had much feelings on here but it's clear as day she's a complete and utter piece of shlt.

backspin.

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

'Fighting for womens rights' is the go to defence for any woman having a hissy fit these days it seems.
Deserves a stronger sanction than just losing a point and a game - that kind of outburst is outrageous and was an extraordinarily selfish ruining of a great moment in Osaka's career - by all accounts she fully deserved her win against the odds, and it should have been nothing but a triumphant moment for her to enjoy rather than the brattish sideshow Williams made it.
Outrageous.

I can only imagine what the Japanese are saying about Serena.

The Pheasant2

Serena Williams is one the golden cows of current social justice - anything she does however trivial is praised and lauded as fighting for rights; any calls against her therefore must exclusively be the domain of racists and sexists.

E.g. Serena breaks the rules on dress code in competition..."ummm uhhh Serena's right, those rules (which also apply to everyone else) are sexist and racist!" https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/fashion/the-serena-williams-catsuit-ban-is-about-policing-women-s-bodies-1.3610058%3fmode=amp

She's a crybaby. I'd expect a reaction slightly more humble from someone confident they are the best in the world than her graceless display.

smurgen

squawker wrote: »

acting like a spoiled child does not equal sexism

hope she receives a huge fine and is forced to apologize for her disgusting behaviour

I hope she gets hockeyed from not on and continues her outbursts.some people just can't take when their day in the sun is over.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

There's a bot of both to this:

Serena has lost before and not reacted this badly, so I don't buy the "sore loser" argument. Also, it was her coach who committed the first offence, not here. He made a hand gesture. She may not have seen it, or, even if she had seen it, had no control over it. Penalise the coach, ban the coach, send the coach to he locker room in that case.

She also reacted to it. Professionals don't. They keep their head down, play better and use the incident to spur them on and focus. Serena didn't - she went into meltdown. They don't call the umpire a thief, and no one does this without consequences. Probably not in any sport.

Whether it was sexist or racist (in fairness, she only claimed the former as far as I know) should be easily proven: have men or white players been trated differently in the past when the same thing has happened?

TL-DR - wasn't entirely her fault, but how she reacted is and that's what cost her the match.

Wanderer2010

Is she the sister who killed a guy in a car crash? Maybe its PTSD.

dxhound2005

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

There's a bot of both to this:

Serena has lost before and no reacted this badly, so I don't buy this attitude. Also, it was her coach who committed the first offence, not here. He made a hand gesture. She may not have seen it, or, even if she had seen it, had no control over it. Penalise the coach, ban the coach, send the coach to he locker room in that case.

She also reacted to it. Professionals don't. They keep their head down, play better and use the incident to spur them on and focus. Serena didn't - she went into meltdown.

Whether it was sexist or racist (in fairness, she only claimed the former as far as I know) should be easily proven: have men or white players been trated differently in the past when the same thing has happened?

TL-DR - wasn't entirely her fault, but how she reacted is and that's what cost her the match.

Are you saying that she would have won the match if none of the rulings had gone against her?

Itssoeasy

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Is she the sister who killed a guy in a car crash? Maybe its PTSD.

No.

super_furry

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

TL-DR - wasn't entirely her fault, but how she reacted is and that's what cost her the match.

Don't really agree with that. I watched the match in between watching Amir Khan show the world his glass chin again and no matter what happened Serena was going to lose that match. She was utterly outclassed in the first set and her melt-down was a reaction to the fact that she was going to lose, rather than the cause.

Mookie Blaylock

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Is she the sister who killed a guy in a car crash? Maybe its PTSD.

No, she's the sister who almost died after having a baby last year

ligerdub

She's an idiot.

OldMrBrennan83

Mookie Blaylock wrote: »

No, she's the sister who almost died after having a baby last year

She had a baby? She's not mentioned it.

Nermal

She's so brave! Apart from when drug testers ring her doorbell.

The Rape of Lucretia

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

There's a bot of both to this:

Serena has lost before and not reacted this badly, so I don't buy the "sore loser" argument. Also, it was her coach who committed the first offence, not here. He made a hand gesture. She may not have seen it, or, even if she had seen it, had no control over it. Penalise the coach, ban the coach, send the coach to he locker room in that case.

She also reacted to it. Professionals don't. They keep their head down, play better and use the incident to spur them on and focus. Serena didn't - she went into meltdown. They don't call the umpire a thief, and no one does this without consequences. Probably not in any sport.

Whether it was sexist or racist (in fairness, she only claimed the former as far as I know) should be easily proven: have men or white players been trated differently in the past when the same thing has happened?

TL-DR - wasn't entirely her fault, but how she reacted is and that's what cost her the match.

Who broke her racket for her ? The coach, or the umpire ?

When she already knew, peeved about it or not, that she was already on one violation.

Corruptedmorals

It's a terrible thing to overshadow Osaka's historic victory. The coaching violation seems unfair but those are the rules and there's no comeback against the racket smash or verbal abuse.

But I don't agree with criticising her for dress code breaches or drug testing frequency. Tennis' dress code is incredibly outdated and is not necessary to play the sport to full advantage unlike other sports where the uniform suits the movement required. Female players should be allowed wear shorts or trousers if they so wish. Serena breached it for medical reasons anyway. The drug testing frequency is a legit complaint, if one athlete is tested at a far greater frequency than their peers it does warrant criticism and questions. Simone Biles who also happens to be a superb black athlete miles beyond her peers is and has been tested at an alarming frequency compared to her competitors.

Joe_ Public

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

It's a terrible thing to overshadow Osaka's historic victory. The coaching violation seems unfair but those are the rules and there's no comeback against the racket smash or verbal abuse.

But I don't agree with criticising her for dress code breaches or drug testing frequency. Tennis' dress code is incredibly outdated and is not necessary to play the sport to full advantage unlike other sports where the uniform suits the movement required. Female players should be allowed wear shorts or trousers if they so wish. Serena breached it for medical reasons anyway. The drug testing frequency is a legit complaint, if one athlete is tested at a far greater frequency than their peers it does warrant criticism and questions. Simone Biles who also happens to be a superb black athlete miles beyond her peers is and has been tested at an alarming frequency compared to her competitors.

Actually I dont think its true that Serena is tested more than her peers, certainly not significantly so at least. It happens in lots of sports all the time anyway, that some athletes get targeted for one reason or another - can be something as simple as just trying to create a blood profile - and you rarely hear them complaining about it. They suck it up and get on with it. Serena was moaning about it earlier this year but turned out her complaints were less than legitimate.

DrWu

I was watching and it was obvious at one point that she couldn't keep pace. That's when she lost the plot. Even McEnroe (nearly 40 years ago I might add) never called the Umpire a thief and a liar.

The sexism thing is total nonsense (I think calling a man a "super-brat" also falls under the category of sexist if you want to go there).

A bad loser and incredibly disrespectful to her opponent who thoroughly deserved her win. But the usual idiots will swarm to her defence screaming "racist" and "sexist" as loud as their lungs will allow.

The world is a bizarre place.

Niles Crane

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

It's a terrible thing to overshadow Osaka's historic victory. The coaching violation seems unfair but those are the rules and there's no comeback against the racket smash or verbal abuse.

But I don't agree with criticising her for dress code breaches or drug testing frequency. Tennis' dress code is incredibly outdated and is not necessary to play the sport to full advantage unlike other sports where the uniform suits the movement required. Female players should be allowed wear shorts or trousers if they so wish. Serena breached it for medical reasons anyway. The drug testing frequency is a legit complaint, if one athlete is tested at a far greater frequency than their peers it does warrant criticism and questions. Simone Biles who also happens to be a superb black athlete miles beyond her peers is and has been tested at an alarming frequency compared to her competitors.

I've seen Viktoria Azarenka and Jelena Ostapenko wearing shorts in matches.

Wimbledon has a dress code of players only being allowed to wear white and people just get on with it, lots of sports have dress codes.

The best should always tested more often that the lesser players because if they are juicing it does massive damage to a sports credibility, they need to be tested more often to ensure they are clean.Someone ranked number 100 in the world is failing a drugs test will not do much damage to a sport, the number one in the world being a drug cheat does massive damage to a sport.

WinnyThePoo

Watched it and felt ashamed of her. She was being outplayed. Get on with it. Both violations are black and white in the rules. Then abuse. Just get on with it.

Fair play to Osaka.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Are you saying that she would have won the match if none of the rulings had gone against her?

super_furry wrote: »

Don't really agree with that. I watched the match in between watching Amir Khan show the world his glass chin again and no matter what happened Serena was going to lose that match. She was utterly outclassed in the first set and her melt-down was a reaction to the fact that she was going to lose, rather than the cause.

No, not at all - she may very well have lost anyway. But the meltdown ****ed up any chance of a comeback. She was already a set down and Osaka was folding firm when it kicked off.

At that level, it's as more mental state and concentration that determines winners than physical ability.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Who broke her racket for her ? The coach, or the umpire ?

When she already knew, peeved about it or not, that she was already on one violation.

My point entirely: she never contested that one and should have known to calm down and not mouth off when you've already had two violations.

I never said she was innocent here.