Tough break.
Naomi Osaka claimed her first Grand Slam title on Saturday after defeating Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4, in the final of the U.S. Open. With the victory, Osaka became the first Japanese woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Williams was looking to win her 24th Grand Slam singles title, which would have tied her with Australia’s Margaret Court for the all-time record. Williams lost after receiving multiple penalties from Chair Umpire Carlos Ramos — including a point penalty for breaking her racket, and then a game penalty for arguing with Ramos and calling him a “thief.”
The game penalty came as a culmination of an on-going argument between Williams and Ramos. Earlier in the match, Ramos handed down a warning for coaching following hand gestures from Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Williams responded by telling Ramos: “If he gives me a thumbs up, he’s telling me to come on. We don’t have any code and I know you don’t know that, and I understand why you may have thought that was coaching, but I’m telling you it’s not. I don’t cheat to win. I’d rather lose.”
“You owe me an apology!”
Serena was fired up with the official in the final set of the US Open final. pic.twitter.com/r6RSbrirnV
— ESPN (@espn) September 8, 2018
Serena Williams after getting penalized because she called judge a “thief” “There;s a a lot of men who have said things and because they are men nothing happens to them”….pic.twitter.com/Vr9WTspqFw
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) September 8, 2018
Ramos handed Williams a point penalty later in the night after she slammed her racket down, breaking it. The confrontation continued as an audibly upset Williams approached the umpire chair and demanded an apology from Ramos, while adamantly saying that she did not cheat and receive coaching.
“You owe me an apology, I have never cheated in my life,” Williams yelled. “I have a daughter and I stand by what’s right for her and I have never cheated. You owe me an apology. You will never do another one of my games.”
The game penalty happened after Williams again demanded an apology from Ramos and then called him a “thief” saying that he “stole a point” from her with the previous penalty. Ramos said the the game penalty came as a result of verbal abuse from Williams.
UPDATE: Serena says she’s fighting for women’s rights:
[give_form id=”79809″]"I've seen other men call other umpires several things. And I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality." pic.twitter.com/QzFTixejel
— ESPN (@espn) September 8, 2018