Saturday night’s women’s final will forever be remembered in the history of the US Open, but for all the wrong reasons.
A dramatic argument between Serena Williams and umpire Carlos Ramos resulted in the former world No.1 ending up with a game penalty. Williams was warned three times for coaching, smashing her racket and verbal abuse towards the official. The fallout from that match was just as dramatic. Ramos has been accused of sexism in what was arguably the most difficult moment of his entire career. Both the WTA and USTA backed Williams before the ITF finally stood up for Ramos. Arguing that he just followed the rules.
In the aftermath of the match is an entire debate about the treatment of women in the sport. Although many don’t believe sexism was a factor in that match. Ramos has a history of being strict with both male and female players. Upon reflection many, including myself, don’t think Ramos made his decision based on gender.
What seems to be extraordinary is the lack of reaction to the conclusion of the women’s doubles final on Sunday. Ashleigh Barty and Coco Vandeweghe battled to an epic 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (8-6) win over second seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic. Earning their first grand slam title as a pair. It was a magical moment for Barty and Vandeweghe, but neither got the award ceremony that dreamt of.
“I’m just bummed we didn’t have any sort of award ceremony,” Vandeweghe told reporters.
“We couldn’t thank anyone. I think that was poor form.
“Maybe we’ll get another moment sometime, we’ll have another Grand Slam at Australia. Maybe they’ll do us right in Australia since the U.S. couldn’t do me right.”
Barty’s and Vandeweghe’s match took place before the men’s final. Lasting more than two-and-a-half hours, there was a chance that it could result in the delay of Novak Djokovic’s clash with Juan Martin del Potro. Officials feared this happening and instead opted to conduct a brief trophy ceremony. Taking away from the two winners the opportunity to speak to the crowd.
“To be honest, I don’t think they would have worried if they were 10 or 15 minutes delayed,” Barty said.
“I think it would have been nice for us to be able to thank our teams and all the people that make it a possibility, and to thank the crowd as well.
“They were a little bit confused as to why we weren’t given the opportunity.”
In fact Barty was told that the pair needed to leave the court soon because ‘the men needed to start.’ One would question it the same would happen if it was the Bryan brothers or a high-profile male doubles final taking place instead.
So why was there no uproar? Williams claimed that she was being penalised by the umpire for being a woman and a massive debate has taken over tennis. Meanwhile the two women’s doubles champions were literally told that they needed to cut short their celebrations to accommodate the men’s final.
I would have to question the double standards of the USTA, who runs the US Open. Their chairman, Katrina Adams, told ESPN ‘there’s no equality. I think there has to be some consistency across the board. These are conversations that will be imposed in the next weeks.” Adams’ calls for consistency is welcome, but a bit hypocritical. How can the USTA urge equality when the women’s doubles champions are being told to leave the court because the men want to start?
In reality action only gets taken on these subjects depending on the calibre of the player involved. Williams is one of the most successful female tennis players in the history of the sport. Meanwhile, Barty and Vandeweghe are nowhere near as on the same level. Not to say that either of them are bad players.
Double standards in the world of tennis is evident. Not just in relation to sexism, but in relation to how players are treated. Williams was a questionable victim of sexism, but two of her fellow players were. Yet there is no debate.
This is the real problem in tennis. Not how Ramos conducted himself in accordance to the rule book.
