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Serena Williams screams at chair umpire Carlos Ramos during the American women's final. (Jason Szenes / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock)
Bieler
Sports journalist covering national topics, as well as support for coverage of teams in the DC region
Faced with what they perceive as a lack of institutional support for the chair umpire who inflicted a penalty on Serena Williams in the US at the women's final. High-level referees are also considering forming a union, according to a report released Tuesday, in part because they are not allowed to discuss specific matches.
Williams was free to speak after losing 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday against Japan's Naomi Osaka, and accused chair-umpire Carlos Ramos of sexism. He gave him a warning for coaching, then a penalty for breaking his racket and, after repeatedly expressing his frustration, including calling him a "thief," Ramos imposed a penalty for verbal abuse.
[Serena Williams was out of line, say Martina Navratilova and Mary Carillo]
The 23-time Grand Slam winner, who failed to equal Margaret Court's record for either women or men, said Ramos would not have treated a player so harshly. The CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, Steve Simon, quickly issued a statement of support for Serena, saying on Sunday that her organization "believes that there should be no difference in the standards of tolerance provided to men and women ". that is, "do not believe it was done last night".
After the president of the US Tennis Association, Katrina Adams, released a declaration On Saturday night, praising Williams as a "true champion" and "source of inspiration," Ms. Adams said on Tuesday that a double standard exists in the way chair referees deal with male and female players. "We should not have to bear that extra burden in everything we do," she said of women in tennis.
The International Tennis Federation, the governing body of sport, came to Ramos's defense on Monday, claiming that its "decisions were in accordance with the applicable rules" and that it "acted at all times with professionalism and integrity. ". was too slow to soften the referees' colleagues.
A Times of London report quoted an unnamed official as saying that the referees felt they were often "unsupported" by the USTA, and that Ramos was "thrown to the wolves just to do his job and did not want to be abused ". This led to talk of a boycott, with The Guardian reporting that the referees believe Ramos was "suspended" while "nobody defends the officials", giving renewed energy to long-standing unionization discussions.
[Jenkins: At U.S. Open, power of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka is overshadowed by an umpire’s power play]
"Arbitrators have no independent means of representation and are employed by the governing bodies," said a source at The Guardian. "If the discussions with the media are not allowed and that the authorities denounce, what are the referees supposed to do?
"The fraternity of the referees is deeply disturbed to be abandoned by the WTA," Richard Ings, a former senior referee who is now retired, told ESPN on Tuesday. "They all fear being the next Ramos. They believe that no one has the back when they have to make unpopular calls. "
Ramos himself made some comments to a newspaper from his native country, Portugal (according to USA Today), "I'm fine, given the circumstances" and "the situation is tricky, but the arbitration" à la carte " does not exist. Do not worry about me! "
Ramos, who was selected Tuesday by the ITF to referee the semifinals of the Davis Cup this week between the United States and Croatia, has also benefited from the support of major figures in the world of tennis. Sports journalist and former pro Mary Carillo described Monday as "very, very respected" and she said Williams "sometimes acts like a brute".
Martina Navratilova acknowledged that Williams deserved most of the incident, writing in a New York Times article that, complaining that Ramos would not have reacted in the same way to a well-argued player, Williams "Missed the point" and would have done better to behave with "respect for the sport we love so dearly". The Grand Slam winner, who has participated 18 times, said: "We can not measure ourselves against what we think" In fact, this is the kind of behavior that no one should adopt on the court. "
Other tennis personalities, including Chris Evert and Novak Djokovic, said Ramos should have been more discreet in managing the situation. Last week in the Washington Post, Billie Jean King, a women's rights activist and world number one, said, "Did Ramos treat Williams differently than men? I think he's done it.
The tournament umpire fined Williams $ 17,000 on Sunday for his training fouls, snowshoe destruction and verbal abuse. She won $ 1.85 million in Osaka, which won the first Grand Slam title of her career and became the first Japanese tennis player to do so.
Read more about The Post:
In the United States, the power of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka is eclipsed by a power play of the referee.
In her anger, in defeat, Serena Williams starts a late conversation
Perspective: Dignity has been defeated in the United States Open. Then Williams and Osaka showed us how to recover gracefully.
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