Lame from Serena Williams. She’s unwilling to acknowledge the error of her volatile ways in the US Open final against Naomi Osaka.
Her self-absorbed and petulant behaviour has stripped gloss from the biggest moment in Osaka’s life but there’s been no apology. Not a word of remorse in the four months since she threw the mother of all tantrums at Flushing Meadows. It’s a cop-out.
Williams today plays her first majors match since her US Open meltdown. She’s desperate to match the 24 slams won by Margaret Court’s holy hands, so desperate that the enormity of the achievement can do her head in.
Featured on the cover of Time magazine, Osaka, the first Japanese player to win a major, has admitted, “I didn’t want people to see me crying against Serena.” That’s the extent to which Osaka was traumatised by Williams’ outbursts. By the way, Williams incited the New York crowd. Williams complained of sexism and racism when neither had been relevant to that tennis match. The upshot? When Osaka was about to receive the US Open trophy, she had been forced to pull her visor over her eyes in embarrassment. All because of Williams’ inability to be a gracious loser. She refused to admit to a single mistake.
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She’s barely said boo at the Hopman Cup, doing a grand total of six minutes of media interviews. That’s a joke for someone’s who received about $1 million to play and promote the tournament.
At an exhibition event at Abu Dhabi, another decent payday for her, it’s like the US Open never happened. Journalists have been warned against raising the topic. Or what? Another tanty? She’s been guilty of the single most cringe-worthy sporting performance of last year — well, the most cringe-worthy that hasn’t involved sandpaper — and yet she’s taken no responsibility for it. Imagine if Osaka had carried on like a toy-chucking child in Williams’ moment of triumph. Here’s what I think Williams would have suggested: ‘Girl, hush your mouth’.
“It’s hard to recall a more unsportsmanlike event,” the New York Post has written of the US Open final. “Here was a young girl who pulled off one of the greatest upsets ever, who fought for every point she earned, ashamed. At the awards ceremony, Osaka covered her face with her black visor and cried. The crowd booed her. Katrina Adams … opened the awards ceremony by denigrating the winner and lionising Williams — whose ego, if anything, needs piercing: “Perhaps it’s not the finish we were looking for today,” Adams said. “But Serena, you are a champion of all champions,” and addressing the crowd, Adams added, “This mamma is a role model and respected by all.” The Post has concluded: “That’s not likely the case now …”
The 37-year-old Williams plays Germany’s Tatjana Maria on Rod Laver Arena today. She’s won 23 majors. Williams does not rate Court’s record because she reckons most of them were won against substandard fields before the Australian Open, won 11 times by Court, became a legitimate major. The enormity of the achievement threatens to be too much for her. She may like to pretend her histrionics never happened, but let’s say it for what it is, an error she needs to acknowledge if she’s going to regain respect.
She delivered three rants to umpire Carlos Ramos in New York. The first rant: “This is unbelievable. Every time I play here I have problems. What? That’s a warning? I didn’t get coaching. I didn’t get coaching. You need to make an announcement that I didn’t get coaching. I don’t cheat. I didn’t get coaching. How can you say that? You need to — you owe me an apology. You owe me an apology. I have never cheated in my life. I have a daughter and I stand for what’s right for her and I never cheated. You owe me an apology. You will never do another one of my matches.”
The second rant: “For you to attack my character, it’s wrong. You’re attacking my character. Yes, you are. You owe me an apology. You will never, ever, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live. You are the liar. When are you going to give me my apology? You owe me an apology. Say it. Say you’re sorry.”
There’s no apology. Nor should there be. Williams’ third rant was when she basically called Ramos a cheat: “Well then, don’t talk to me. Don’t talk to me. You stole a point from me. You’re a thief, too.”
It’s not her only blemish. She’s told a linesman at a previous US Open, during a semi-final loss to Kim Clijsters: “I swear to God, I’m f - - king going to take this f - -king ball and shove it down your f - -king throat. I swear to God.”
Losing to Sam Stosur in the 2011 US Open final, she’s broken the rules by yelling “Come on!” when Stosur is attempting to hit a groundstroke. The umpire, Eva Asderaki, has correctly awarded the point to Stosur. Williams tells Asderaki: “I am not giving her the game. You’re nobody. You’re ugly on the inside.” At the next change of ends, she’s shouted at the umpire: “You’re totally out of control. You’re a hater and unattractive inside. What a loser.” Stosur won in straight sets and said in her laid-back Australian drawl: “Serena did something you can’t do.”
It wasn’t for the first time. And as we’ve learned, not the last.
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