SERENA WILLIAMS FINED $17K AFTER HARASSING THE UMPIRE!


The former world number one is fined by the US Tennis Association after calling judge Carlos Ramos a "liar" and a "thief".

Serena Williams has been fined more than £13,000 ($17,000) after receiving three code violations in the US Open.

Williams lost her cool during the final on Saturday, launching a tirade against umpire Carlos Ramos after getting a warning for coaching from the stands early in the second set.

She was penalised a second point for throwing her racket down in her anger and then a game after verbally abusing the umpire, calling him a "liar" and a "thief".


But despite receiving support from across the tennis world, including from Billie Jean King, she was fined for the three violations by the US Tennis Association.

The fine is made up of £7,700 ($10,000) for the verbal abuse offence, £3,100 ($4,000) for coaching, and £2,300 ($3,000) for racket abuse.

She earned £1.43m ($1.85m) for reaching the tournament final.


Williams's arguments with the umpire cast a shadow over the final, which was opponent Naomi Osaka's first grand slam final and the first time a Japanese player has won a grand slam.

She accused Mr Ramos of being a liar when he penalised her for cheating, saying she would rather lose than cheat to win.

"You're attacking my character," she said, as she demanded an apology. "You will never, ever be on another court of mine. You are the liar."

Having been docked a game, she lost the second set, and was booed by the crowds during the trophy ceremony.

Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, later acknowledged the rule violation, but criticised the umpire for "creating drama", accusing him of screwing with a grand slam final.


In a news conference after the match, Williams, 36, said she was "fighting for women's rights" and for equality on the tennis court.

She said: "I've seen other men call other umpires several things. I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality and for all kinds of stuff.

"For me to say 'thief' and for 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'.

"It blows my mind."

Although she drew criticism, there were many who supported Williams, including Andy Roddick and Sue Barker.



Barker said: "Serena in some ways has a point in the fact that I've sat courtside watching the men ranting at umpires and (they) haven't been given a violation.

"Serena is saying the male players can say what they like to an umpire. Also, earlier in the tournament we saw Alize Cornet being given a code violation for changing her shirt on court. Then, in the same tournament, Mohamed Lahyani gets off the umpires' chair to talk to Nick Kyrgios and persuade him not to give up on a match.

"So I think they have to look at the rules of what is allowed and what isn't, because I just think he was following the rules absolutely by the book, but sometimes the book has to be re-written - you can't have one rule for some players, and some umpires don't adhere to it and allow players to get away with things."

The former French Open winner added that "tennis is the loser".


King, who won 39 grand slam titles during her career, tweeted: "Several things went very wrong during the @usopen Women's Finals today. Coaching on every point should be allowed in tennis. It isn't, and as a result, a player was penalized for the actions of her coach. This should not happen.

"When a woman is emotional, she's "hysterical" and she's penalized for it. When a man does the same, he's "outspoken" & and there are no repercussions. Thank you, @serenawilliams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same."

Victoria Azarenka also tweeted her support, saying she did not believe the same decisions would have been made in a men's match.

Roddick tweeted it was the "worst refereeing" he had ever seen.

The Women's Tennis Association said it will look into the dispute between the player and the chair judge.

Source Sky News

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