Cartoonist defies Serena outrage
AUSTRALIAN newspaper cartoonist Mark Knight has dismissed a global Twitter storm over his depiction of tennis superstar Serena Williams throwing a tantrum on court.
The veteran cartoonist for Melbourne’s Herald Sun says his portrayal was never about race or gender, rather the sporting superstar’s bad behaviour at the US Open.
Knight’s take on it showed Williams spitting the dummy and stomping on her racquet as the umpire told US Open champion Naomi Osaka in the background: “Can you just let her win?”
Knight said the online hate he received was unfair as the cartoon was about her flareups during the final and not racism or sexism.
“The cartoon about Serena is about her poor behaviour on the day, not about race. The world has just gone crazy,” he said.
Australian cartoonists backed Knight’s work yesterday as mainly US and overseas celebrities lined up to attack him for racism and sexism.
Williams was fined $US17,000 for multiple meltdowns during the final, including destroying her racquet, calling the umpire a “thief” and accusing him of sexism.
Herald Sun editor Damon Johnston said: “A champion tennis player had a mega tantrum on the world stage, and Mark’s cartoon depicted that.
“It had nothing to do with gender or race. This was about a bad sport being mocked.”
FOUR days after smearing Carlos Ramos with self-serving petulance, Serena Williams has been served an overdue dose of reality by Martina Navratilova.
Navratilova, winner of 18 singles majors, has watched Williams play the victim card on an unprecedented scale in the wake of her childish US Open meltdown.
The trouble for Serena and her slavish minions is that the facts, including the rule book, speak louder than her outrage.
Ramos implemented the rules strictly in accordance with how they were written.
He gave Williams a warning because her coach Patrick Mouratoglou was repeatedly seen signalling to his client. It is illegal whether Williams sees it or not.
Ramos then penalised Williams a point for destroying a racquet and then a game for calling him a thief and a liar. Both actions are illegal. As hapless Naomi Osaka weathered Williams’ boorishness and still managed to win her first major, Navratilova was appalled.
Writing for the New York Times, Navratilova contradicted the grovelling statements of US Tennis Association president Katrina Adams and WTA boss Steven Simon by saying Williams behaved in a way “that no one should be engaging in on the court”. Declaring imagined claims of sexism and racism off the mark, Navratilova said: “Had I behaved like that on a tennis court, I would have expected to get everything that happened to Serena.
“There have been many times when I was playing that I wanted to break my racquet into a thousand pieces.
“Then I thought about the kids watching. And I grudgingly held on to that racquet.”