OPEN OUTRAGE
Serena rips umpire after shocking calls Controversy clouds historic win for Osaka
Facing a younger and harder-hitting version of herself, Serena Williams lost her poise and, ultimately, the match, 6-2, 6-4, to Naomi Osaka in a contentious U.S. Open women’s final Saturday.
Fulfilling her dream of defeating her idol, Osaka, a 20year-old from Japan by way of Elmont, Long Island, became the first Japanese player, male or female, to win a Grand Slam title.
Osaka outplayed Williams throughout a stunning, 79minute final. That is likely what led to Williams being warned once and penalized twice for code violations during the match.
“This happens to me every single year when I’m trying to play here—it’s not fair,” an angry Williams said on court to tournament referee Brian Earley and Women’s Tennis Association supervisor Donna Kelso after she was penalized a game for her third infraction— verbal abuse—by chair umpire Carlos Ramos of Portugal.
Williams said she has felt slighted by U.S. Open officials since losing a quarterfinal match to Jennifer Capriati in 2004 and receiving an apology afterward from the USTA for missed calls by chair umpire Mariana Alves. That match played a significant role in the introduction of video replay for line calls in 2006.
In another volatile match in Williams’ Open history, she lost a 2009 semifinal to Kim Clijsters in which the chair umpire penalized Williams for threatening to shove a tennis ball down the throat of a lineswoman. That abusive comment was captured by a CBS microphone at courtside.
Ramos warned Williams in the first set for receiving illegal assistance from her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who made a gesture with both hands to indicate that she should go to the net more. In an ESPN interview during the match, he said, “I’m honest. I was coaching. But I didn’t think she saw me. Everybody coaches.”
After the match, a composed Williams insisted she had not been illegally coached.
“I just texted Patrick, like, ‘What are you talking about?’” she said. “We don’t have signals. We have never discussed signals.”
The code violation did not carry a penalty, but Williams’ next two infractions did.
After Osaka broke Williams’ serve in the fifth game of the second set to trail 3-2, a disgusted Williams slammed her racket to the ground. Since she had already received a code violation, Ramos penalized Williams one point for racket abuse, which allowed Osaka to begin the sixth game with a 15-0 lead.
Williams exchanged words with Ramos during the changeover, and her anger seemed to intensify after Osaka whipped a forehand past Williams for another service break and a 4-3 lead.
The crowd rained boos down on Arthur Ashe Stadium as a visibly upset Williams spoke to Ramos again. Because she resembled a baseball manager chewing out an umpire — but without the dirt-kicking — the pro-Williams crowd cheered.
Asked if she had clashed with Ramos in the past, Williams said, “Not at all. He’s always been a great umpire.”
However, as Williams left her chair to receive serve in the eighth game, Ramos informed her that she had been penalized one point for verbal abuse.
Stunningly, Osaka had been given a 5-3 lead — just one game from a major championship — without hitting a ball.
Williams said she called Ramos “a thief” during the changeover, which, in her view, should not have warranted a one-game penalty.
“I’ve seen men call umpires several things,” Williams said. “For me to say ‘thief’ and him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He’s
never taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief.'”
Williams offered no evidence to support her claim that Ramos has handled verbally abusing male players differently.
After the one-game penalty, Williams pleaded her case to Earley and Kelso for several minutes. At that point, the crowd was unaware of the latest penalty. When Williams walked away from Earley and Kelso, fans erupted in cheers, believing she had won her argument.
But once the scoreboard changed to 5-3 in favor of Osaka, the boos were deafening.
After Williams held serve to cut Osaka's lead to 5-4, she spoke with Earley and Kelso again during the changeover. It did nothing to change the officials' minds.
On match point, Osaka blasted a service winner to Williams' backhand and the reply hit the net. Williams and Osaka hugged at the net after a final that will be remembered more for on-court behavior than tennis.
The crowd booed lustily during the awards ceremony, which normally includes the introduction of the chair umpire. But to spare Ramos from what would have been a torrent of verbal abuse from the crowd, he was not introduced.
Williams, who credited Osaka for a remarkably strong performance, was denied for the second time in a bid to tie Margaret Court with a 24th Grand Slam title. She lost in the Wimbledon final to Angelique Kerber in July.
Osaka, born in Osaka, Japan, and raised in Elmont, Long Island, idolizes Serena. Osaka's Haitian-born father, Leonard Francois, even followed the script written by the Williams sisters' parents, Richard Williams and Oracene Price, to prepare his own daughters for tennis careers. (Osaka's older sister, Mari, is also a pro.)
“I'm still going to remember the Serena I love,” said Osaka, who cried and then covered her eyes with her visor as the crowd booed during the award ceremony. “She was nice to me after the match and at the podium.”
Another link between the two finalists is Osaka's coach, Sascha Bajin, who was Williams' hitting partner for eight years. Since coming aboard this year, Bajin has played a major role in the rise of Osaka, who ended 2017 ranked 68th in the world.
Williams, who turns 37 on Sept. 26, said she will continue her pursuit of major titles one year after giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia. But the pain of this defeat is likely to linger for a long time.