Double standard, but Serena isn’t right

New York

– Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, says Serena Williams was wrong in her outburst in the US Open final even though she agreed there is a double standard.

Writing for the New York Times, the 61-year-old said a higher standard needed to be observed when Williams called chair umpire Carlos Ramos a “thief” and was penalised a key game in the second set.

“We cannot measure ourselves by what we think we should also be able to get away with,” Williams, who was thwarted in her bid for a record-tying 24th Slam singles crown in losing to Japan’s Naomi Osaka, said as she was punished for saying something where men have said far worse without incurring such a penalty.

“Serena Williams has part of it right. There is a huge double standard for women when it comes to how bad behaviour is punished,” Navratilova said.

“But in her protests ... she also got part of it wrong. I don’t believe it’s a good idea to apply a standard of, “If men can get away with it, women should be able to, too.”

Williams was issued a warning for coaching, something her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, admitted to doing.

Williams was unhappy at the violation call and told Ramos she hadn’t taken any signals.

Williams later smashed her racquet, resulting in a code violation and a point deduction, which she argued over with Ramos.

“Ramos, effectively, had no choice but to dock her a point,” Navratilova said.

“It was here that Ms. Williams really started to lose the plot. She and Mr Ramos were, in effect, talking past each other.

“She was insisting that she doesn’t cheat – completely believable, but besides the point – while he was making a call over which he, at that point, had little discretion.”

Matters escalated and Williams called Ramos a “thief,” incurring the crucial game penalty.

“It’s difficult to know, and debatable, whether Williams could have got away with calling the umpire a thief if she were a male player,” Navratilova wrote.

“But to focus on that, I think, is missing the point. If, in fact, the guys are treated with a different measuring stick for the same transgressions, this needs to be thoroughly examined and must be fixed.” –