Serena owes opponent an apology
Tennis star marred what should have been a happy day with her tantrums
To my recollection, (last) Saturday was the third time Serena Williams took the joy away from (the player) winning the U.S. Open.
In 2009, after losing the first set of the semi-finals to Kim Clijsters, Williams broke her racket. She got a warning. Down 15-30 in the second set, in a game she needed to force a tiebreaker, a lines woman called a foot fault. That made it 15-40. Serena took the ball, walked over and threatened the woman. At one point after Brian Earley, the tournament referee, came out, she said to the lines woman, “I didn’t say, ‘I’ll kill you.’ Are you kidding?” That and more cost her a second code violation. Williams lost another point, which cost her the game and the match.
In the final against Sam Stosur in 2011, Williams yelled, “Come on,” after hitting the ball before it got to Stosur. Under grand slam rules, that was a deliberate hindrance and cost her a warning.
Williams tore into the umpire saying, “Aren’t you the one that screwed me over last time here? Yeah you are. I truly despise you . ... You’re totally out of control. You’re a hater and you’re just unattractive inside . ... Who would do such a thing? And I never complain. Wow. What a loser.” She garnered a $2,000 fine.
On Saturday, after a loss in the first set to Naomi Osaka, Williams was given a warning by the umpire for being coached in the second set. She said she never cheats. Already mad that she couldn’t get the edge over her opponent, she smashed her racket at the end of a subsequent frustrating game. After that cost her a point, she went to the umpire and demanded an apology for calling her a cheater and said the umpire was the thief. That cost her a game.
Not knowing what was happening, the crowd booed menacingly when the match resumed. Then, Williams began to make loud noises upon contact of the ball, presumably to rattle Osaka. It did not. When Osaka won the set and the championship, she smiled and then suppressed it and pulled down her cap. Williams embraced her warmly. Then, instead of celebrating, Osaka sat with a towel over her face.
As the crowd booed during the trophy presentations, Williams took the microphone and told them to stop and to cheer the champion.
In 2009, 2011 and 2018, Williams was losing. She was angry. She put everyone in a lose-lose situation. Clijsters, Stosur and Osaka would not be rattled. Clijsters, who had had a baby and many injuries, still needed to play the final. It’s hard to remember who she beat. Stosur won her only major under a cloud not of her making and Naomi Osaka, who should have been experiencing the best day of her life, looked around blankly not knowing what she should do. Two umpires were castigated for doing their jobs, and one unnamed line judge was allowed no defenses for the abuse she had to endure.
Oh, Saturday’s umpire never once said that Williams had cheated. He gave a warning for being coached, and Williams’ coach said he did just that.
Williams could have just brushed off the warning. Instead, she took away our pleasure by not allowing us to see how the match could have concluded. She turned our attention away from the one player who played her game better than she did.
Yes, an apology is in order. Serena Williams owes a big one to Naomi Osaka, who played the best tennis of her life and got booed for it.