Before I delve into the many layers my thoughts have flirted with around
Serena Williams, Carlos Ramos, Naomi Osaka, and all the rest, I should probably
share what my immediate reaction was: Carlos Ramos will never ref a significant
women's match that Serena Williams takes part in again. This wouldn't be the
first such case. Rafael Nadal has made it publicly known he requested Carlos
Bernardes does not ref him again after Bernardes made Nadal stay on court to
change his pants that Rafa mistakenly put on back to front. This is more
significant, in both directions. But that is a very reductive way to look at
things.
I should start parsing out what we definitely know is true about the
entire situation: Carlos Ramos was right to penalize her a game, in that by the
rule, it was her third violation. Serena Williams is absolutely right that many
male players could have said the exact same stuff and probably not got a code
violation. Many commenters are right that Ramos should have given Serena a soft
warning that he was noticing her coach was coaching her (here's another chance
to remember just how stupid that is, that a 'coach' cannot 'coach'), like most
do to so many other players. All of these things are right. There is a double
standard. Ramos did what he probably felt was right. The bias was unconscious,
but it was there.
There's a lot of emotion in the arguments each side has taken in
defending or criticizing Serena. Of course, there's emotions with Serena too.
She was playing badly, close to losing. She felt she got the first violation
unfairly. People are emotional at these times - whether it be her, or Federer
in 2009 when he told an ump to shut up and swore at him. It was a very
emotionally charged time, and we would expect a more emotional response than normal
The argument that makes the most sense to me is the one that
acknowledges by the rules, Serena was at fault, but the time to actually give a
code violation for abuse of official was not 4-3 in the second set, a game that
luckily just kept Osaka up her break (imagine the outcry if it was 3-4 with
Serena to serve to try to level it and she lost that chance!). We hear this
line in every sport, that officials ‘swallow their whistle’ late in games. In
tennis, with black and white rules, that is not a thing, but in the case of
giving out code violations (or adhering strictly to the 25 second clock) it is.
And Ramos was wrong.
The tough part to parse is Serena’s play that she was standing up for
female players. I admit men do get away with more outrage directed towards
chair umpires, but I don’t think it is too the level of Serena’s statements.
Certainly, the people that have been held up recently as skating by despite
many outbursts, like McEnroe or Connors or Roddick, got their fair share of
point penalties. Serena smashing her racket got a code violation just like any
male player would had they done the same.
The biggest piece of evidence she probably has is around coaching (and
that Ramos was too sensitive to give a verbal abuse penalty). Nadal gets coached
all the time by Uncle Toni. Djokovic has done the same. Everyone has done it.
Usually there is a soft warning from the ump and they essentially stop before
it becomes an issue. I honestly don’t remember the last time I saw a code
violation given for coaching.
Ultimately, no one comes out looking good, most
especially the USTA and Carlos Ramos. While all players should be treated
fairly, it often seems Serena, despite her stature (truly someone who you can
argue is ‘bigger than the game’, like Federer/Nadal are on the men’s side) is
often given shorter shrift. There definitely needs to be some coaching of the
umpires to give more warnings, to raise the bar for what crosses ‘abusive
actions’ late in matches, and to not so quickly bang the gavel. In the end,
this situation unearthed strange rules, overshadoewed a truly great story in
Naomi Osaka – who was well on the way to beating Serena anyway, and added
another dark mark on her sterling resume; even if this one is far more gray
than what came before it.
