Sexism at the US Open

[_ajax18]

I am interested in getting an opinion from non tennis players and people who don't follow the sport. Was Serena Williams the victim of gender discrimination when she was penalized for first coaching, then breaking her racquet, and lastly calling the chair umpire a thief? Was it racial discrimination on the part of chair umpire Carlos Ramos? Is Carlos Ramos considered white enough to be capable of racism against Williams? I'm still not sure which male player Serena is saying got away with similar conduct unpenalized. It's not like the men's game is equal to the womens. Men play 3/5 sets while women play best of 3. The men use heavier balls. The ATP and WTA have different governing bodies. It's not like the rules in the men's game aren't extremely different from when McEnroe, Connors, and Nastase were pulling their gamesmanship antics in the 70s.

Those at the top level of the sport, ex champions, commentators etc. initially sided with Serena but they've changed their tune as time went on. I think most of you would be surprised to hear what he weekend warriors old men tennis players think of Serena's argument. Suffice it to say it doesn't mirror McEnroe or Gilbert, not even from my liberal tennis pals.

[_Xenophon]

I think one of the primary problems here is that we saw, again, just how inconsistent rule enforcement in tennis is, even from the same umpire. From my experience most umps would have let that coaching bit go, or only give a soft warning that doesn't officially count against a player. That warning kind of allowed the next parts to spiral out of control. It is regrettable that Williams couldn't let it go but frankly I prefer my athletes to be passionate, fired-up individuals. Don't you? That is why typically umps are expected to be the one to keep cool. It leads off an article I'll link below but it is worth repeating: when umps and refs are doing a good job, you won't know they are there.

I'm sure it won't change your judgement on not believing it is sexism but plenty of former pros have pointed out that they have said far worse than Williams and suffered no consequences from it. Or that Ramos is not exactly known for consistency even if he is known as being a strickler for the rules.Also that they thought the call was pretty garbage and that the game should have been determined by the players and not the ump. Or how the same rules don't always apply to men and women within the sport.

All thoughts on sexism (or racism, where did you get that by the way?) aside, here we had what should have been an incredible and hard-earned win by Osaka (more than likely) that instead was essentially gifted to her. Ramos is, at the very least, guilty of overshadowing what was mostly an incredible match.

[_MeDotOrg]

Just go to YouTube and search for John McEnroe cussing. Jimmy Connors and Ilie Nastase also set standards of behavior that were pretty low.

Bjorn Borg, the stoic Swede, never lost his cool on the court. As a teenage player he had let his temper get in the way, and vowed to control his temper. While the bad boy law firm of Connors, McEnroe & Nastase threw rackets and screamed at umpires, all Borg did was win.

Curiously, the cool rational Borg on the court evidently let out all of his repressed id in his personal life. He divorced his childhood sweetheart, married a porn star and nearly went bankrupt.'

I think the umpire was a bit unfair, but Serena lost her cool.

[_ajax18]

Just go to YouTube and search for John McEnroe cussing. Jimmy Connors and Ilie Nastase also set standards of behavior that were pretty low.

Do you know any examples of active players (the modern era) behaving the way Serena did and getting away with it? Tennis finally stood up to McEnroe when he was defaulted at the Australian Open.

Coaching is often let go but not by Carlos Ramos. He's notoriously a stickler for the rules. The coaching was so blatant it was caught on camera. He really didn't have any choice but to call it. He basically told Serena he was calling that on her coach, not her. She agreed and seemed to cool down until Osaka broke her serve in the 2nd set. Only then did she start to raise a stink claiming, "It wasn't coaching," which her own coach admitted it was after the match.

Serena has a history of acting this way. Once understandably before shot spot, once over the foot fault call and now this time. I personally think she realized she was going to lose and needed an excuse. She's the greatest female player of all time but she's not an individual of good character like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. Just ask Sloane Stephens.

[_Lemmie]

I don't think Ajax was actually referring to this, but there is a racist component to this story, involving cartoonist Mark knight's contribution:

There are quite a few reviews of his cartoon, here's a comment from one I thought was excellent:

“The problem is that picking up racist iconography from 100 years ago in order to attack a black woman still makes you racist, even if you think you’re participating in the tradition of comics rather than in the tradition of racism,” Mr. Berlatsky said. “The tradition of comics very often has been the same as the tradition of racism, and you can choose to push back against that, or you can be racist. Knight has chosen the second option.”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytime ... t.amp.html

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

- Doc

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

From the same cartoonist:



- Doc

[_ajax18]

It's been heartening for me to see my more liberal Democrat friends see this sexism/racism allegation and the mainstream medias take on it for what it is.

I wonder how much heat Navritilova took from Billie Jean King for Navritilova's article, "Where Serena went wrong." Keep in my Navritilova's article was obviously carefully crafted damage control piece from the tennis elites rather than a spontaneous personal opinion.

[_Lemmie]

From another editorial:

The National Association of Black Journalists said the cartoon was "repugnant on many levels."

"The Sept 10 cartoon not only exudes racist, sexist caricatures of both women, but Williams’ depiction is unnecessarily sambo-like,” the association said in a statement.

"Sambo," a derogatory term for a black person, is the name of a folkloric figure usually depicted with an exaggerated mouth and an ape-like stance.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/09 ... rtoon.html

Note that Carlos Ramos and William's opponent are portrayed as white in knights cartoon. Naomi is portrayed as a slim small, white woman, with a blonde ponytail. In reality she is two inches taller than Serena, her father is Haitian and her mother Japanese, and she does not have a blonde ponytail.

[_Xenophon]

Thanks for the some context, Lemmie. I don't really see how that shows ajax that anyone is accusing Ramos of racism (I know, probably my fault for expecting logic).