15-Time Tennis Champion Serena Williams Emotionally Calls Out Tennis Double Standards

During the finals match, chair umpire Carols Ramos gave Williams a number of penalties, including a warning for a coaching violation, a warning for breaking her racket (resulting in a point to Naomi Osaka who went on to win.)

Williams was also given another penalty for calling Ramos a “thief.”

In a press conference after the match, Williams admitted that she would call the umpire a thief again and pointed to a bigger problem in tennis: the double standard for women players.

“You definitely can’t go back in time, but I can’t sit here and say I wouldn’t call him a thief again because I thought he took a game from me,” she said.

He continued on: “But I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things and I’m here fighting for women’s rights and women’s equality and all kinds of stuff, but for me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game? It made me feel like it was a sexist remark. I mean, he’s never taken a game from a man because he said thief. For me, it blows my mind.”