Staff ReporterSerena Williams fined $17,000 Sunday for violations during the women’s final the day before.
Williams will pay for three violations made during the extremely controversial match with 20-year-old Naomi Osaka, who claimed her first grand slam title.
Williams’ first violation for allegedly receiving coaching during a game cost her a warning and $3,000. A second violation, slamming her racket and breaking it, led to a point penalty and a fine of $4,000. The third violation, what umpire Carlos Ramos called verbal abuse when Williams’ called him a “thief” for the point penalty, resulted in her losing a game to penalty and an additional fine of $10,000.
The money comes out of her prize money of $1.85 million as the runner-up. Williams suffered a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Naomi Osaka, who became the tournament’s first female Japanese champion. Williams was going for her 24th Grand Slam title.
The penalties drew criticism from fans of Williams and many in the tennis world, where a game penalty is extremely rare.
“When a woman is emotional, she’s “hysterical” and she’s penalized for it. When a man does the same, he’s “outspoken” & and there are no repercussions,” Billie Jean King, former World No. 1 professional tennis player and a long-time advocate of women athlete’s rights and equality wrote on Twitter Saturday. “Thank you, @serenawilliams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same.”
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Williams’ defeat cost her tying for Margaret Court’s record of 24 major titles.
