Title marred by chaos
Williams docked a game after tirade; Osaka sails to win
NEW YORK — Serena Williams was penalized a game for calling the chair umpire a thief during an extended argument as the U.S. Open women’s final descended into chaos Saturday, with fans booing and play delayed before Naomi Osaka wrapped up a 6-2, 6-4 victory for her first Grand Slam title.
The biggest issue for Williams on the scoreboard was that she was outplayed by Osaka, a 20-year-old who is the first player from Japan to win a major singles tennis title and idolizes the 36-year-old American.
During the trophy ceremony, thousands of fans jeered repeatedly, and both Osaka — the champion — and Williams — the runnerup in her bid for a recordequaling 24th Grand Slam trophy — cried.
Williams put an arm around Osaka’s shoulder and told the crowd: “I know you guys were here rooting, and I was rooting too, but let’s make this the best moment we can . ... No more booing.”
What the final will forever be remembered for is the way Williams clashed with chair umpire Carlos Ramos, demanding an apology after he issued a warning for a code violation in the second set’s second game for receiving coaching.
Williams objected right away, saying she would never cheat. After the match ended, in an interview with ESPN, Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, acknowledged he had tried to signal Williams but didn’t think she had seen him.
Briefly, Williams appeared to be working her way back into the match, breaking Osaka to go up 3-1 in the second set. But Williams played a poor MEN’S FINAL game right after that to get broken, and she smashed her racket. That drew a second code violation and, automatically, cost Williams a point. Williams told Ramos he should have retracted the initial warning for coaching.
“I have never cheated in my life!” Williams said. “You owe me an apology.”
She resumed arguing with Ramos later, saying, “You stole a point from me. You’re a thief, too.”
He responded by issuing a third code violation, which results in a lost game. That made it 5-3 for Osaka.
“To lose a game for saying that is not fair,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of men that have said a lot of things and because they are men that doesn’t happen.”
Soon thereafter, the match was over.