Serena Williams and the pressure to win a 24th grand slam
Serena Williams has always been in the news most times for all the right reasons and going into the final of the 2018 US Open Tennis final to face 20-year-old Japanese star Naomi Osaka everyone thought the stars had aligned and one of the greatest Tennis stars of all will equal legend Margret Court’s 24 Grand Slam wins and of course on home soil.
A lot of hype had gone into Saturday’s final even the victory speech had been written but Naomi Osaka will have none of that as it was her day to shine. She beat Williams 6 – 2, 6 – 4 to win her maiden grand slam title and probably the first of many.
WILLIAMS OUTBURST X-RAYED
William’s first offence and the origin of her meltdown was when her coach Patrick Mouratoglou was caught gesturing to her to move closer to the net early in the second set. Williams would not have it as she blew up telling the chair umpire Carlos Ramos that she’ll rather lose a match than cheat. Her coach later admitted to giving her instructions maintaining that all coaches do it.
Her second offence was for abusing her racket just 10 minutes after the first offence. Williams saw the match going in an unfamiliar direction which made her transfer her frustration to the racket.
Then her third offence was for abusing the “Chair Umpire” Carlos Ramos calling him a “Thief and a liar”.
After all, these have been said about William’s attitude during the match I’ll like to say she wasn’t terrible all night as she was instrumental in keeping the peace when the fans were booing during the trophy presentation.
HERE IS MY TAKE
Before I give my submission it is worthy of note to state that Williams (The Queen of the sport) has been fined $17, 000 for violating the US Open Code during Saturdays final which goes to confirm that the umpire and referee were right to have given the penalty against her.
Williams was fined $10, 000 for verbal abuse of “Chair Umpire” Carlos Ramos, $4, 000 for being warned for coaching and $3, 000 for racket abuse. That was some meltdown.
Back to my point, Williams has brought a lot of glamour to the sport but what is wrong is wrong. No athlete can win every game and despite her loss not being palatable, it’s just one of the things you have to deal with in sports.
The issues of sexism should be knocked off as male athletes have also been fined in the past. Can’t forget John McEnroe.
Finally, Williams I’m sure will one day equal and surpass Margret Courts record of 24 grand slam title wins but the events of Saturday, September 8, 2018, will always be remembered alongside Naomi Osaka’s US Open triumph.
