Irish Daily Mirror

Serena’s a tennis great but she’s a lousy loser

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SERENA Williams’ shocking US Open loss to Naomi Osaka left a bad taste in a lot of mouths.

The women’s final was sent spiralling out of control after an ugly confrontat­ion between the 23-time champion and umpire Carlos Ramos.

Williams was reprimande­d after her coach illegally gestured to her during the match.

The game continued for barely 10 minutes before Ramos then docked Williams for racket abuse as Osaka began to run away with the match, sparking another outburst from the 36-year-old.

She labelled him a

“thief” and a “liar” before then demanding she was “owed an apology” from him.

During her rant, she cited sexism for her treatment protesting that male players don’t get treated the same as she was.

Male players over the years have definitely felt the wrath of officials with many being docked points or even kicked out of a tournament for their behaviour.

Williams has only herself to blame for losing her composure while her sense of self-importance after telling Ramos he would never “umpire on my court again” was distastefu­l to see.

No player is above the jurisdicti­on of the umpire, no matter who they are.

What is more shameful however is how at the age of just 20, Osaka’s incredible achievemen­t to win her first major title was overshadow­ed by Williams’ actions.

As she kept her composure, she was the true champion in more ways than one.

 ??  ?? TANTRUM Serena Williams
TANTRUM Serena Williams

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