Random thoughts about Serena. Lots of blame to go around. The veteran umpire had a history of making similar calls in the past, many against men. Veteran announcers Mary Carillo and Lindsay Davenport said it was within the umpire’s rights to not only penalize a point or a game, but default Serena if he saw fit.
Serena said men get away with much worse – and they do. But over the years there have been numerous men that have been defaulted out of matches - including John McEnroe in the Australian Open. Bjorn Borg was once penalized TWO points. Last year at the US Open an Italian man was fined $96,000.00. But let's not confuse things with the facts.
Carillo and Davenport agreed that Serena was out of line. They also said coaching from the stands is rampant in tennis, and rarely called. Serena wasn’t the one cheating, it was her coach. He admitted as much. Should he not share the blame? We can all agree that Serena doesn’t need the help. But she railed at the umpire as if she was the one cheating. She let the situation get to her.
Had Serena been winning at the time, perhaps she wouldn’t have made such a big deal about it. But having lost the first set, she lost focus and composure in the second set. She slammed her racket on the court, breaking it, drawing another warning from the umpire. She was spinning out of control. To ask for an apology, even after the match, shows how personally she took it.
Serena is supposedly the greatest women’s player in history. The GOAT (today someone called her the greatest athlete of all time). But did you ever see any of the other greats behave that way? Arthur Ashe. Chris Evert. Hank Aaron. Jack Nicklaus. DiMaggio. Jackie Robinson. Jim Brown. Jesse Owens. Kareen Abdul-Jabbar. Michael Jordan. Wayne Gretzky. Clemente. Barry Sanders. Herschel Walker. Joe Montana. When Tiger Woods was down he never blamed others. He focused all the more on what he could do to come back and win.
Off the field of play almost all these GOATs used their platforms to make life better for their fellow man, by protesting, by social work, by lending time and effort and money to charity, education, and relief efforts. But on the court they were all about winning. Their focus was unwavering.
Few disagree with Williams. There very well could be a double standard, that men get away with more than women. I’m far from a tennis officinado. How many women berate umpires? Are women held to a higher standard? Perhaps so. Perhaps it’s that people think less of men than they do women. Today's media certainly glorifies women and belittles men. These days men are considered expendable. In tennis the women are more ladies than the men are gentlemen. Isn’t that a good thing?
But to be called the Greatest Of All Time, shouldn’t one be held to a higher standard? Serena can act however she wants. She can fight whatever battles she chooses. Perhaps the meaning of “behaving like a champion” has changed over the years. Maybe today instead of quiet grace, acting like a champion possibly means fighting for the right thing. Maybe if Jim Brown didn’t come along until 2018 he would be more vocal. Probably so. But composure is something altogether different.
The right for women to be able to act like an idiot without punishment like men – is this really something to fight for?
In the aftermath of Saturday’s controversy some calling out Serena are being called racist, especially those who are white. As a white person, can I voice my opinion without being called racist? Is my opinion and experience not valid? As an older person, am I out of touch?
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