Serena Williams gathers powerful supporters

One day after Serena Williams claims that US umpires and chair umpires treat women differently, others in the world of tennis decided to defend the superstar or accept her points. Or both.

Just as Novak Djokovic accepted the trophy for his third men's title of the US Open, WTA general manager Steve Simon issued a statement regarding the women's final of the day before and supported the charge of Williams according to which sexism a loss for Naomi Osaka.

"[Saturday] also put forward the question of whether different standards were applied to men and women in match arbitration, "Simon said in a statement.

"The ATA thinks that there should be no difference in the tolerance standards provided to emotions expressed by men and women and commits to working with sport to make sure that all players are treated the same way. We do not believe this has been done [Saturday] night."

For his part, Djokovic said that it was difficult to generalize things with regard to the unequal treatment of women, but felt that the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, had not only overreacted, but had a definite impact on the final.

"I personally think that the chair umpire may not have had to push Serena to the limit, especially in a Grand Slam final. Maybe just changed – maybe not, but he changed the course of the match, "said Djokovic. "[It] was, in my opinion, perhaps useless. We go through all our emotions, especially when you fight for a Grand Slam trophy.

Women's doubles champion CoCo Vandeweghe – whose grandfather Ernie and his uncle Kiki are both ex-Knicks – was more direct.

"I will stay simple. I thought it was ridiculous. I thought it was a bad call from the referee. I think he should be held responsible just like the players, "Vandeweghe said. "What I think is the referees, they antagonize a lot of players. There are some that need to be checked.

"They must be held responsible for mistakes they make and calls they make, whether they are correct, wrong or indifferent. But this time, it's wrong. I've dealt with the wrong side where they think they hear something, they hear nothing. The whole crowd thinks you're fucking, which is incorrect. I think they have to be held accountable. "