Serena Williams is a veteran tennis player and has many titles under her belt but the incident at the 2018 US Open final has left her and the whole world wondering about gender inequality in the game. Tennis is a game where nerves are taut and emotions run high, and players irrespective of gender release their tensions in various ways. However, she was handed a $17,000 fine by the U.S. Tennis Association for her outburst on the court. The 23-time grand slam champion was competing against Naomi Osaka of Japan who won the title.

Washington Post reports that Serena Williams was fined because of a number of incidents on the court that were treated as misconduct by the umpire.

These included “destroying her racket” and “verbal abuse.” The chair umpire was Carlos Ramos and Serena feels the actions were examples of discrimination against women because men are never penalized for similar outbursts.

There is support for Serena Williams

The 2018 US Open was held in Flushing Meadows, New York, and this year the subject of gender inequality has popped up. It is there in different aspects of our lives and has entered tennis as well. The actions taken by the U.S. Tennis Association against Serena Williams have not gone down well with veteran players like Billie Jean King who has labeled it as an example of “double standard toward women.” This is reported by Washington Post.

The president of the National Organization for Women has revealed that men get away with much more serious outbursts compared to Serena’s and has demanded that Carlos Ramos be dismissed. There are the past cases of Roger Federer in 2009 and Jimmy Connors of 1991 and none of them were penalized for their utterances. In Serena’s case, the umpire justified his decisions by saying that he was following the rules, but the fact remains that it has left a bad taste in the mouth.

Such action against Serena was uncalled for

According to BBC, Serena Williams has claimed that the actions taken against her in the 2018 US Open final were examples of sexism. Her stand has been backed by the governing body of women's tennis, and in the opinion of WTA chief executive Steve Simon, she was denied a level playing field.

If a man had been involved, the umpire would have acted differently.

The US Open is organized by the United States Tennis Association, and its chief, Katrina Adams, has added that men flout all the norms and go scot-free while a woman gets penalized. There needs to be consistency and this incident has highlighted the injustice meted out to Serena Williams who is not a novice. Apparently, umpires have different yardsticks for women.
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