Professional tennis player Serena Williams is to be fined $17,000 USD following her performance in the woman’s final of the US opens. The 23-time grand slam champion not only lost the match to Naomi Osaka, the first Japanese tennis player to win a grand slam tournament but also incurred three violations during the match.
Specifically, Williams received a string of fouls during the second set as the Chair Umpire, Carlos Ramos, gave the 23-time Grand Slam champion a coaching warning. This frustrated Williams who then passionately denied any illegal coaching while her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, stated the opposite to CNN, saying: “I’m honest, I was coaching. I don’t think she looked at me so that’s why she didn’t even think I was.” Williams was then docked a point after she lost a serve and broke her racket in anger. Finally, a game penalty came soon after as Williams called officials over to the court and argued with them.
The defeat was fair in Osaka’s favour, but following the heated match, her win came with some controversy which was apparent during the awarding ceremony, where Japan’s first Grand Slam singles champion was booed, supposedly by Serena’s fans, which reportedly made Osaka ‘visibly upset.’
