NewsBite

Naomi Osaka defeats Serena Williams 6-2 6-4 in extraordinary scenes at US Open Women’s Final

SERENA Williams’ US Open outburst stunned the world, but her coach’s flat confession after the game was just as incredible.

Alex BlairAlex Blair
@alexblair_1
4 min read
September 9, 2018 - 2:10PM
US Open Women's finals: Serena Williams loses it

SERENA Williams has lashed out on the court and claimed sexism in tennis in sensational scenes at the US Open this morning.

Naomi Osaka sensationally upset Serena Williams a second time in an explosive US Open final which saw the six-time Flushing Meadows champ break down in tears on the court and in a press conference afterwards.

Related: World reacts to Serena’s US Open mess

The dramatic turn of events saw the grand slam queen blow up at chair umpire Carlos Ramos in a rant halting the match for several minutes.

In a press conference after the explosive game, Williams said she was “here fighting for women’s rights and women’s equality” and labelled Ramos’ decision “a sexist remark”.

During the match, Williams was pulled up by Ramos after seemingly receiving coaching advice from the front row. Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, gestured to her after she won the first game of the second set.

It appeared to be a suggestion for Williams to move closer to the net, a tactic which served her well in the semi-final against Anastasija Sevastova.

“I don’t cheat to win, I’d rather lose. I’m just letting you know,” a fired-up Williams told the umpire.

“I can understand how you made that thought, but I don’t cheat.”

Incredibly, Mouratoglou admitted to sideline coaching in an interview with ESPN but wasn’t short of accusations himself.

“(Osaka’s coach) was coaching every point too, so I don’t get it,” he fired off after the match. “I don’t get it. It’s not a big deal breaking a racket.”

Mouratoglou said he’d never been brought up for coaching mid-match and thought the upset wouldn’t hurt Serena’s charge towards a 24th grand slam title.

“All coaches are coaching throughout the match. But check the record. I’ve never been called for a coaching violation in my career.”

Speaking after the match, Williams said she “can’t go back in time” and that she thought Ramos “was a thief. I thought he took the game away from me”.

“I’ve seen other men call umpires several other things...for me to say thief and for him to take a game, it made me feel that like was a sexist remark. He’s never taken a game from a man because they said thief. For me, it blows my mind. But I’m going to continue to fight for women.

“I just feel like the fact that I have to go through this is an example for the next person that has emotions that wants to express themselves, that wants to be a strong woman and they’re going to be allowed to do that because of today.

“Maybe it didn’t work out for me, but it’s going to work out for the next person.”

Aussie journalists Peter Lalor and Caroline Wilson went for the juglar on Sunday morning’s ABC Offsiders.

“It was her McEnroe moment, it was hard to watch,” Lalor said. “Nobody owes you an apology, you owe a lot of people an apology and when you calm down, I hope you realise that.”

Wilson said it was time the tennis world stood up to Williams.

“The comment about having a daughter, women around the world would have cringed at that,” she said. “This is a woman who threatened to shove a ball down an umpire’s throat was only fined $10,000. This is a woman who, again, verbally threatened a linesman in 2014. People have not stood up to Serena Williams.”

During the game, Willams had sent the crowd bananas as she snagged her first break of the match via an overhit backhand return from the youngster went long.

But the fireworks weren’t over yet.

Serena was brought up again shortly after by the umpire docking her a point for breaking her racket, sparking a heated outburst from the 36-year-old.

“I don’t cheat and I never have in my life! I didn’t get coaching, how can you say that. You owe me an apology. I have a daughter and I set what’s right for her ... This is unbelievable!”

Williams then called umpire Ramos a “thief” as she went down 5-4 with Osaka serving for the match.

She was hit with a verbal abuse game penalty for her outburst and did not shake Ramos’ hand after the match.

“I’m just trying to process everything and focus on the bright things, the good things,” she said in the post match press conference.

“I felt bad, I was crying, she was crying. This wasn’t how I felt when I won my first grand slam. Maybe it was the mum in me when I said, ‘c’mon, let’s pull ourselves together here’.

“(But) I wasn’t being coached. It may have looked like I was but I wasn’t. I don’t need to cheat to win.

“I feel like (Osaka) was playing really well but it’s hard to say (if the umpire influenced the match).”

The US Open released a statement explaining the circus shortly after Osaka lifted the chalice.

“I don’t want to be rude, I don’t want to do questions. I just want to say (Osaka) played well and this is her first grand slam,” Williams continued. “Congratulations Naomi.”

Osaka said she was “sorry it had to end like this”.

“I just wanted to say thank you for watching the match,” the teary champ said.

“I didn’t know what was going on, I was just trying to focus. Since it was my first Grand Slam final, I did not want to get overwhelmed,” said 20-year-old Osaka after her 6-2, 6-4 win.

After the match, Williams referred to a code violation handed down to Alizé Cornet, who was pulled up earlier in the tournament for changing her backwards shirt on-court.

“Cornet should be able to take her shirt off without getting a fine, like this is outrageous.”

More related stories

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/us-open-womens-final-serena-williams-vs-naomi-osaka/news-story/7ab06e87611145e31404ff85b04b88b9