To not appreciate Serena using sexism in her arguments against umpire

[user1471517900]

Sorry if there is a thread, I did scan four pages to check.

Serena gets coached (which her coach admits) but claims she didn't see it. Then smashes a racquet in separate fit of temper. Then tells the umpire she can't be a cheat because she's a mother(!), he will never referee a match again with her, and he's a thief.

The punishments all seem fine to me and I really felt for Osaka having to apologise in her winners speech. Serena should be saying sorry today IMO.

Also if anything the injured players have it harder, they have no control over what's happened to them and possibly have the risk of never playing again, at least at a high level. Serena chose to have a baby, knowing the impact it would have on her career.

Serena has lost it badly before, I’m not aware of any male opponent doing the equivalent of, “I’m going to ram this fucking ball down your fucking throat”.

The original point of contention was that she was called out for coaching. How was that sexist and how does that justify her massive escalation?

Umm John McEnroe?!?

Has he threatened extreme physical violence on a linesperson though? Genuine question.

And what happened to him? He’s been heavily sanctioned for his antics, badlad posted a useful link upthread.

No sympathy for her stroppy behaviour. Total unashamed diva syndrome.

She is an amazing player, possibly regarded as one of the greatest but there is no excuse for her temper tantrum. Very poor sportsmanship, a bad example to younger players and puts the sport in a bad light. On the day she was beaten by a better player.

What has her saying ‘I’m a mother’ to do with it?

Want2bSupermum
Umm John McEnroe?!?

is a arse, his exploits on the court are where the rot started to set in and his 'antics' where often used to put other (often better) players off their game.

Could you imagine the uproar if an employee was expected to return to work significantly demoted and earning far less because of this?

But she isn't an 'employee'.

She's a freelancer, as am I, even though she earned more last weekend - despite losing - than I probably will in a lifetime. If I were to have a baby or take time off work for other reasons, I wouldn't expect to be compensated. That's the nature of the job, albeit vastly better rewarded in her case.

In either case a player being injured from playing tennis is wholly different to what she went through and i think that should be recognized.

Why? Tennis depends on being in absolute top physical condition. If you are not, for whatever reason, your ranking will suffer.

Oh, and I note that you still haven't told us exactly what it was that Carlos Ramos did wrong.

The thing is in many sports you will get some referees/umpires who are known for applying the rules to a tee. If you are forewarned as any tennis player and coach are with this umpire, then if you get caught out breaking rules you only then break more rules on purpose if you would like to exit the game. Also even unruly sportspeople are keenly aware of what will get them penalized or disqualified, this player had a number of opportunities to choose, and made bad choices. If you wish to protest the referee/judge/umpire's integrity this is probably all the more reason to acquit yourself well and play well, then you can raise the matter afterwards with some credibility. Failing that refusal to play is an option. This third way of behaving poorly was not any kind of real act of general protest.

For every bad choice Serena made there was another woman of a minority benefiting from it so there is no attack on minority women as a group here, it just seems like the umpire was once again a bit of a hard-ass and Serena chose to press on WAY past the point of no return despite numerous chances to stop it.

I have a daughter and I stand for what's right Except for when she is being a rape apologist.

Here is a Guardian article on the cartoon, which assumes its racist. Predictably, the article is getting panned below the line for all manner of good reasons.

Here's another one from a few days later. Comments not allowed. What a surprise.

I admire Serena but her behaviour was rather appalling.

She took time out to have a child and thought she could come back and just pick up where she left off and it hasn't worked our like that. I think this outburst came from realising that she may never win the grand slams she wants to to go into the history books.

She was accused of cheating. She didn’t cheat. I don’t think most top sportspeople would just quietly accept that accusation.

Yes, I know her coach signalled something but I think it’s pretty generally accepted that she neither saw nor acted on it. Maybe if the umpire had paid less attention to him none of it would have happened.

"something but I think it’s pretty generally accepted that she neither saw nor acted on it."

I don't think it's generally accepted at all
Firstly she described the action in her first conversation with the umpire when trying to get him to retract the violation so I don't see how the claim of not seeing it stacks up and secondly she started to come in to the net after the violation which is what her coach signalled

She was accused of cheating. She didn’t cheat. I don’t think most top sportspeople would just quietly accept that accusation.

The umpire gets to make that call, not the player. If players can decide whether they're cheating or not, why bother with umpires?

Yes, I know her coach signalled something but I think it’s pretty generally accepted that she neither saw nor acted on it.

Aside from the fact that it isn't generally accepted at all, that's not the point.

The umpire is not a mind reader. It's not his job to analyse Serena's actions and make his judgement accordingly. The coach is Serena's employee, so the only way to penalise his behaviour is through the player. That's a general rule in tennis - Williams was not singled out.

Also he didn't accuse her of cheating, he penalised one of her team for violating a rule, which he admitted to doing

LapdanceShoeshine

She said in one of her interviews that she though he was giving her the thumbs up, so she did see him.

I'll just plonk this here.