Title-chasing Williams opens up on her despair at fallout from US Open final furore

As Serena Williams pursues tennis history at Wimbledon, she is revisiting it off court.

Serena Williams celebrates winning a point against fellow American Alison Riske during their quarter-final match at Wimbledon. Picture: AFP

As Serena Williams pursues tennis history at Wimbledon, she is revisiting it off court.

Williams, who is one major title short of equalling Margaret Court’s record of 24, has written for Harper’s Bazaar an account outlining her version of the ugly saga that unfolded last year in the US Open final.

Midway through the American superstar’s Wimbledon quarter-final against Alison Riske — the conqueror of Ash Barty — on Tuesday night (AEDT), the Harper’s Bazaar article was published. Williams, who defeated Riske 6-4 4-6 6-3 to set up a clash with Barbora Strycova, later said she was unaware of when the article in Harper’s Bazaar, that was also promoted by her social media account midway through her tough victory, would be published.

“That was actually planned months ago. It wasn’t like I was going to plan the release of it,” Williams said.

“I wasn’t quite sure when the actual magazine was going to come out. It was all coincidental.

“Yeah, I didn’t write that last night or anything. Obviously someone on my social team put it out during the match.”

In the first-person piece, the 37-year-old revealed she had penned a note of apology to US Open champion Naomi Osaka given the self-inflicted saga that hijacked what should have been a joyous occasion for the Japanese star.

Curiously, Williams blamed the media for the controversy in a letter to the former world No 1 sent days after the initial episode, though she also apologised to her during the trophy ceremony.

This is despite the fact it was umpire Carlos Ramos who issued a game penalty on the court, a sanction that still angers her, after he found her coach Patrick Mouratoglou coaching from the stands and she lost her temper denying the accusation.

While the International Tennis Federation eventually gave its support to Ramos, who followed the rule book when sanctioning Williams during an on-court tirade but was booed off the court by the partisan New York crowds, the American is yet to offer an apology to him despite branding the umpire “a thief”.

Serena Williams on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar

The American has emphatically denied knowing of the coaching and reiterates in the piece she did not notice Mouratoglou urging her to move forward.

But she also states her despair and ponders whether a man would have been treated the same way by Ramos, an assertion discussed at length following the tantrum.

“This debacle ruined something that should have been amazing and historic,” she wrote.

“Not only was a game taken from me but a defining, triumphant moment was taken from another player, something she should remember as one of the happiest memories in her long and successful career. My heart broke.”

It is a rare grand slam event where Williams does not dominate discussion, either with her form when playing or her presence away from the sport.

The pursuit of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, followed by Steffi Graf and now Court on the all-time major winner list has been a constant source of discussion. For a part-time tennis player, as she effectively described herself on Tuesday, her form is incredible.

Despite playing an extremely lean schedule aged 37, she has reached finals at Wimbledon and in New York and appeared en route to achieving the same result in Australia before rolling an ankle late in a quarter-final when in a dominant position.

Ominously for Strycova, who is the oldest woman to reach a maiden major semi-final aged 33, and the other semi-finalists Simona Halep and Elina Svitolina, the American is feeling well physically and mentally. She is now favourite to equal Court’s record of 24 grand slam titles here.

After the tense win against Riske, she returned to centre court to partner Andy Murray in mixed doubles. And it is a preparation Williams is clearly revelling in.

“I haven’t had a tremendous amount of time to prepare for this,” she said.

“But, you know, like I said in the beginning of this tournament, each and every match for me has to count as, like, five or 10 matches because I have not played a lot.

“This is the first time since Australia that I actually felt, like, good. It’s been a really, really long year for me already, and a hard year, because I’m usually not typically injured.

“I don’t know where I am. I do know I feel good. Now that I feel good, I can actually focus on training and technique and practise, something that I just literally haven’t been able to do a lot of.”