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NEW YORK – Serena Williams was sanctioned by a match for qualifying the chair umpire as a thief during a long discussion as the women's final of the US Open collapsed. victory for his first Grand Slam title.
The biggest problem for Williams on the scoreboard on Saturday was that she was overtaken by a younger version of Osaka, a 20-year-old who is the first Japanese player to win a single singles title and idolize the 36 years old. old american.
At the awards ceremony at Arthur Ashe Stadium, thousands of fans laughed repeatedly and Osaka, the champion, and Williams, the second for her 24th Grand Slam trophy, shouted.
Williams put an arm around Osaka's shoulder and said to the crowd, "I know you were rooting here, and I've also taken root, but let's make it the best possible moment … Let's be positive, so congratulations, Naomi.
Williams added with a laugh: "I really hope to keep playing here again. We'll see."
A teary Osaka addressed the pro-Williams crowd saying, "I'm sorry, I know everyone was encouraging and I'm sorry that ends like that." I just want to say thank you to have watched the match, thank you. "
"It was always my dream to play Serena in the US Open final, so I'm really glad I was able to do it.I'm really grateful to have been able to play with you." Thank you, "added Osaka.
This was the third high level conflict with a Williams official at Flushing Meadows, after his infamous tirade after a foot foul in the 2009 semi-finals against Kim Clijsters and a dispute over an obstacle in the 2011 final against Sam Stosur.
The 2018 final will be remembered because of Williams' inability to face referee Carlos Ramos, who apologizes for throwing a code violation warning in the second game. matches.
The WTA issued a statement after the match, calling for the celebration of both players while saying "there are issues to consider".
Williams objected right away, saying that she "would rather lose" than cheat. After the match ended in an interview with ESPN, Williams coach Patrick Mouratoglou admitted trying to signal Williams, but said he thought all players would get training during the matches. .
"Well, I mean, I'm honest, I'm training, I mean, I do not think she's looked at me, that's why she's I did not even think I was … I was like 100% coaches at 100 percent matches, so we have to stop this hypocritical thing, "Mouratoglou said. "Sasha was also training all the points.This chair umpire was the referee of most of Rafa and Tony's finals that drew every point and they never gave any warning. not really, it's strange. "
Mouratoglou added that he had never been called for a violation of supervision: "Not once in my life, and you can consult the records you will see."
In the blink of an eye, Williams seemed to be back in the game, beating Osaka for the only time to go up 3-1 in the second set. But Williams played a bad game just after to break up immediately and she broke her racket on the ground, destroying her. This resulted in a second code violation and automatically cost Williams one point. When she realized that the next match had started with Osaka in advance of 15, Williams told Ramos that he should have withdrawn the first warning for coaching.
"I have never cheated on my life!" Williams said. "You owe me an apology."
She started arguing again with Ramos later, saying, "You stole a point, you are also a thief."
He responded by issuing a third code violation, resulting in a lost game. That made 5-3 for Osaka.
Ramos called both players to explain his decision, and Williams started laughing, saying, "Are you making fun of me?" She then asked to speak to the tournament's referee, Brian Earley, who entered the field with a grand slam supervisor. Williams told them that the whole episode "is not fair" and said, "That happened to me too often."
"Losing a match to say that it's not fair," Williams said. "There are a lot of men here who said a lot and because they are men who do not arrive."
Shortly after, the match was over.
It was the second final Grand Slam final defeat for Williams, after Wimbledon in July, when she was looking for a first major title since returning to tour after having a baby in 2017. She had missed the US Open last year, because his daughter, Olympia, was born during the tournament.
It was the first women's final of the referee Ramos at the US Open. Ramos chaired the women's singles finals at the French Open in 2005 and at Wimbledon in 2018. He chaired seven men's singles finals at the four Grand Slam events and also chaired the men's singles final at the 2012 London Olympics. .
Saturday 's controversy was not the first involving a chair referee at this year' s Open. Alize Cornet was quoted for having removed her shirt and the United States Tennis Association issued a statement in which she stated that the chair umpire had been wrong to quote her. Nick Kyrgios was encouraged by a chair umpire and the USTA warned him to do so.
The information from the Associated Press has been used in this report.
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