Luisa Tam + FOLLOW Luisa Tam has been a journalist for more than 30 years. She has held a variety of roles during her career, including working as a producer for NDR German TV, a media campaigner with Greenpeace, and as the deputy managing editor of Eastern Express. She previously worked at the Post from 1988 to 1990, before rejoining in her current role in 2015.<doc-sep>SERENA Williams’s husband Alexis Ohanian angrily hit out at a New York Times report that clashed with Williams’ argument of unfair treatment towards female tennis players. Williams’ heated argument with chair umpire Carlos Ramos at the 2018 US Open final won by Naomi Osaka continues to be one of the most divisive topics in the sporting world. Williams was ultimately hit with a game penalty for a series of code violations — sparked by the moment she was reprimanded for receiving instructions from coach Patrick Mouratoglou during the final. A statistical analysis of crime and punishment of male and female players at grand slam tournaments, published in the New York Times over the weekend, showed male players are actually punished much more frequently than their WTA Tour counterparts. The figures published by The Times shows since 1998 male players were fined for code of conduct breaches 1517 times compared to the 535 times female players were penalised. The article did not make any conclusions surrounding Williams’ claim that she was penalised for verbal abuse only because she is a woman. The article’s biggest find was that women at grand slams have been fined for coaching 152 times, almost double the 87 fines handed out to male players for the same offence. The figures obtained show that men received 649 fines for breaking racquets to 99 for women in tens of thousands of matches in the four Grand Slams over the last two decades. Men were fined 344 times compared to 140 for “audible obscenity” and 287 to 67 for unsportsmanlike conduct. 2/ Now, NYT just released a study of the actual data: contrary to that narrative, male tennis players are punished at far greater rates for misbehavior, especially the ones relevant to that controversy: verbal abuse, obscenity, and unsportsmanlike conduct https://t.co/p7uh5HkRQo pic.twitter.com/4PTHFJ1PAn — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 15, 2018 Last week, Serena Williams accused Ramos of being a “liar” and a “thief” after she was cited for verbal abuse during the US Open women’s final. “Because I’m a woman you are going to take this away from me?” she said to the tournament referee Brian Earley. “That is not right.” In the post-match news conference, Williams doubled down on her claim there is a double standard when it comes topunishment. “I have seen other men call other umpires several things. I am here fighting for women’s right and women’s equality .... and for me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game it made me feel like it was sexist,” she said. The fact that the New York Times’ report did not support the claims made by Williams in the heat of the moment appeared to anger Ohanian. The millionaire founder of social media platform Reddit fired off a series of angry tweets on Monday, poking holes in the New York Times report. Statistics help for @NYTimes @christopherclarey please: The argument is that women are punished more often *per incident* than men are. These data only show there are more penalties for men *total. *https://t.co/njqgH4Ut8a pic.twitter.com/2Jiqtn0l7I — Alexis Ohanian Sr. 🚀 (@alexisohanian) September 16, 2018 E.g. If men were punished 344 times out of 3440 audible obscenities (10% enforcement), but women were punished 140 times out of 700 audible obscenities (20% enforcement) -- that would mean women are penalized 2x more often than men for the same violation. — Alexis Ohanian Sr. 🚀 (@alexisohanian) September 16, 2018 Cc @ christophclarey - happy to help fund an independent research team to run the actual analysis! Statistics can be illuminating when you know what you're looking for. — Alexis Ohanian Sr. 🚀 (@alexisohanian) September 16, 2018 Live footage of @christophclarey when he realizes he wasted all that ink on a misleading headline with a body of "research" that means literally nothing. How will @nytimes respond? pic.twitter.com/eHqK7Wcgxp — Alexis Ohanian Sr. 🚀 (@alexisohanian) September 16, 2018 He then showed exactly how disgruntled the report made him by bizarrely demonstrating a donation he made to public schooling charity Donors Choose. He said he had made a $7140 donation to the charity “to make sure the next generation gets access to learn basic statistics”. And so that some good comes out of this, I've donated $10 for every word (714) in that misleading article to @DonorsChoose classroom projects to make sure the next generation gets access to learn basic statistics. Thank you, @christophclarey. pic.twitter.com/ccJtpxMBR0 — Alexis Ohanian Sr. 🚀 (@alexisohanian) September 16, 2018 Williams earlier spoke publicly for the first time since her famous US Open press conference, declaring she did not receive any coaching in an interview with The Sunday Project. It came after Mouratoglou admitted after the final that he had coached Williams from the stands. “I just don’t understand,” she said. “If you’re a female you should be able to do, even half, of what a guy can do. “He said he made a motion. I don’t understand what he was talking about. We’ve never had signals.” — with AFP<doc-sep>Serena Williams may have been fined $17,000 for a trio of code violations at the US Open, and her on-court arguments with chair umpire Carlos Ramos may have overshadowed an otherwise memorable Grand Slam win for 20-year-old Naomi Osaka. She does, however, have the support of one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. Four-time US Open champion Billie Jean King opened up on this weekend's controversy in a piece for The Washington Post, and her opinion was clear: Serena was right to stand up to Ramos' calls, which penalized her for breaking a racket, receiving hand signals from her coach and then defending those violations to Ramos. And King was adamant that it wasn't Williams' debate with Ramos that took away from Osaka's victory so much as it was "an archaic rule" and an "abuse of power." "If tennis would catch up with the 21st century and allow coaching on every point," King wrote, "the situation on the court would never have escalated to the level of absurdity that it did." Even worse than the rules, however, King identified Ramos as the main culprit in Saturday's incident. "He made himself part of the match," she wrote. "He involved himself in the end result. An umpire's job is to keep control of the match, and he let it get out of control. The rules are what they are, but the umpire has discretion, and Ramos chose to give Williams very little latitude in a match where the stakes were highest." King admitted that Williams could have done more to control her emotions, but she also noted that male tennis players haven't always been given such a short leash when it comes to expressing themselves on the court. Did Ramos treat Williams differently than male players have been treated? I think he did. Women are treated differently in most arenas of life. This is especially true for women of color. And what played out on the court yesterday happens far too often. It happens in sports, in the office and in public service. Ultimately, a woman was penalized for standing up for herself. A woman faced down sexism, and the match went on. King isn't alone in defending Williams, who has six US Open singles titles under her own belt. As Deadspin reported this week, the U.S. Tennis Association and the Women's Tennis Association have released statements backing Williams and calling out a "difference in the standards of tolerance" by officials -- even with another governing body, the International Tennis Federation, defending Ramos for acting with "professionalism and integrity." Famed author J.K. Rowling, meanwhile, has voiced her support for Williams amid backlash to a cartoon depicting Serena's feud with Ramos, as CBS News reported, calling Williams "one of the greatest sportswomen alive."<doc-sep>US Tennis association chief executive Katrina Adams has been overheard apologising to controversial umpire Carlos Ramos just days after she declared chair umpires have “double standards” when dealing with men’s and women’s matches. Ramos, the tennis official at the centre of the Serena Williams sexism storm, earlier this week defended his actions in the US Open final. The experienced Portuguese official found himself at the centre of a storm after his officiating of the match between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, which saw Williams accuse him of sexism after she was docked a game for receiving three code violations. First she was warned after her coach Patrick Mouratoglou was seen communicating with her via a hand gesture and then she was docked a point after smashing her racket. The 36-year-old, who was chasing a record-equalling 24th grand slam title, received further punishment after verbally abusing the umpire, calling him a “thief” and a “liar” in a heated exchange that went on for some time. Subscribe to news.com.au’s daily podcast From The Newsroom on iTunes After Ramos had to be escorted off court, Williams used her post-match press conference to suggest that men avoid such punishment for similar on-court behaviour. Adams came under fire in some circles for inflaming the sensitive situation when she released a statement hours after the final supporting Serena’s protest, labelling Serena a “true champion” who “showed a great deal of class and sportsmanship”. She also moved to excuse Williams’ behaviour during an interview with ESPN the following day when she suggested Williams would not have expected her outburst towards Ramos to have been captured on live TV. “We watch the guys do this all the time, they’re badgering the umpire on the changeovers. Nothing happens. There’s no equality,” Adams told ESPN. “There has to be some consistency across the board. These are conversations that will be imposed in the next weeks.” Strangest line from USTA president Katrina Adams in defending Serena: "It was on the changeover: she didn't expect for it to be on camera or on air at all. So that was a conversation that then was publicized, was on-air, and then she got penalized for it." ??? — Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) September 10, 2018 Now, Adams and Ramos have come face to face in Zadar ahead of the US team’s Davis Cup tie against Croatia where the veteran official will oversee some of the matches. Despite US players and captain Jim Courier declaring they have no issues with Ramos umpiring their matches, Adams can’t be thrilled about facing Ramos so soon after siding with Williams in the wake of the US Open women’s final. Adams was reportedly heard apologising to Ramos at the Davis Cup event, according to Associated Press journalist Andrew Dampf. It constitutes a huge backflip from the USTA, which has been Williams’ biggest supporter. USTA chief @katadams68 overheard apologizing to chair umpire Carlos Ramos for the fallout from US Open final at draw for Davis Cup SF draw between US and Croatia in Zadar pic.twitter.com/48fqyQOVlV — Andrew Dampf (AP) (@asdampf) September 13, 2018 Speaking to Tribuna Expresso earlier this week in his native country, Ramos indicated he was at peace with his decisions because he didn’t pick and choose when to apply the rule book. “I’m fine, given the circumstances,” he said. “It’s a delicate situation, but a la carte arbitration does not exist. Do not worry about me!” Ramos was supported — albeit belatedly — by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), who said he acted with “professionalism and integrity” while the Women’s Tennis Association had earlier backed Williams’ claims that she received unfair treatment. But the ITF have further shown their support by putting Ramos in charge of the Davis Cup semi-final, which will be played this weekend in Zadar. It comes after a source told The Times some umpires are considering refusing to officiate matches involving Williams in the wake of her attack on Ramos. Ramos, 47, was “thrown to the wolves for simply doing his job and was not willing to be abused for it,” one anonymous umpire told the English paper. Australian former umpire Richard Ings also reported feelings of unrest. “The umpiring fraternity is thoroughly disturbed at being abandoned by the WTA,” Ings told ESPN.com. “They are all fearful that they could be the next Ramos. They feel that no one has their back when they have to make unpopular calls.”<doc-sep>
Serena Williams has addressed the umpire and sexism row from her 2018 US Open women's final loss to Naomi Osaka on September 8. Williams was slapped with three code violations for coaching, smashing her racket, and for verbal abuse aimed at the chair umpire Carlos Ramos. She said trainer Patrick Mouratoglou does not have "signals," just 10 days after denying she had received coaching during the match. Williams also accused the umpire of sexism, according to Sky News, and has said that "if you're a female you should be able to do even half of what a guy can do." Serena Williams has given her first interview since her outburst at the 2018 US Open final. The American tennis player was given three code violations during her September 8 loss to Naomi Osaka. The first violation was for coaching, which Williams argued against. "I don't cheat to win — I'd rather lose," she said. Williams was later given a violation for smashing her racket, costing her a point. Her third violation, for calling the umpire Carlos Ramos a "thief," cost her a game. After the match, Mouratoglou admitted to coaching. "I am honest: I was coaching," he said. Williams told the Australian television show The Sunday Project that she does not understand what Mouratoglou "was talking about." And said they've "never had signals." Williams. Associated Press/Adam Hunger Williams also accused the umpire of sexism, according to Sky News, as she does not believe a male player would receive the same treatment she was given on September 8. "I just don't understand," she said. "If you're a female you should be able to do even half of what a guy can do." This is contrary to a recent The New York Times article that published data which showed men are actually punished three times as much as women in tennis, with 1,517 fines for men in all Grand Slam tournaments from 1998 to 2018 compared to 535 fines for women. However, the portrayal of the statistics was disputed by Williams' Reddit co-founder husband Alexis Ohanian. "The argument is that women are punished more often per incident than men are," he said on Twitter. "These data only show there are more penalties for men total." He added: "If men were punished 344 times out of 3440 audible obscenities (10% enforcement), but women were punished 140 times out of 700 audible obscenities (20% enforcement) — that would mean women are penalized two times more often than men for the same violation." Umpires reportedly considering boycott action The sexism row shows no signs of ending any time soon as a group of umpires are reportedly considering boycott action against Serena Williams, according to an anonymous source in The Times. Umpires are allegedly unhappy about Williams' treatment of Ramos during and after the match. The Times' source said Ramos was "thrown to the wolves" and that umpires could refuse to accept the chair when Williams competes, but would call off the possible protest if Williams apologizes for her remarks. Ramos, meanwhile, will not chair any of Williams' matches at the 2018 Australian Open — the next major in the tennis calendar.