No one expected Naomi Osaka to win the US Open Sunday. Everyone favored her opponent. The crowd was solidly with Serena Williams, as were the bookies. But the 20-year-old Japanese-Haitian, who became the first player representing Japan to win a Grand Slam, prevailed against all the odds.
Victory, however, was bittersweet. The crowd booed her. The announcers were in shock. ‘Perhaps it’s not the finish we were looking for today,’ said one prominent commentator, adding ‘This mama is a role model and respected by all.’ Muted kudos at best for Naomi.
‘It’s not fair,’ wailed Hillary Williams, after the umpire issued a warning when her coach was caught signaling her from the stand. Under questioning after the game, the coach admitted that he had done so but said the penalty was hypocritical: ‘Everybody does it,’ he said.
After smashing her racket onto the court, another violation for which the umpire docked her a point, Serena Clinton accused the judges of stealing the match from her. ‘Apologize,’ she screamed at the umpire. ‘You are the liar. You owe me an apology.’ ‘You will never, ever, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live.’
‘Men have said much worse without penalty,’ said the establishment’s choice after the umpire docked her a game for the verbal abuse. ‘They get away with it because they are men.’
The crowd stayed with her, as did the commentators. Writing for the Independent, Jonathan Liew contended that ‘the fundamental divide here is between those for whom this is no more than a simple issue of rule enforcement, and those for whom this is part of something much larger: of who gets to make the rules and who has to live with them, of wider injustices that originated long before Hillary ever picked up a racquet, and will endure long after she has put it down for the last time.’ The ‘sanctity of the rules,’ he said, ‘has always struck me as faintly suspicious. . . . [A]nd they’re never as objective as they look.’
The deck was stacked against Naomi Osaka. She won anyway.The real inequity was the unsportsmanlike rage that greeted her victory.
Tennis used to be a game for ladies and gentlemen. The petulant behavior of Serena Clinton and her fans and supporters shows that those days are over.
(Via: Hot Air)
Blog Author's Comments: The news media seems intent on turning this into a "women’s' issue." Why is this "sexist"? Her opponent was another female. And Williams did engage in "racket abuse" which has regularly been punished on the circuit among men. But, here's the problem. For the most part tennis matches are not made on a point or two. For being a seasoned professional her emotions was one of the reasons she lost the match and championship. I would have expected more from her as a ‘professional’. How she reacted was not the display of a good role model. She alone determined the outcome of that match.
The New York crowd actually booed Naomi Osaka, the winner of the U.S. Open because she defeated Williams. Neither the crowd nor Serena Williams showed any class. "It's not fair" cried Williams, after she was warned, because the umpire saw her coach giving her hand signals. Sadly, both the crowd and the commentators sided with Williams. I am somewhat surprised that both Rev. Jackson and Al Sharpton did not rush to any camera and microphone they could find to offer their 'fair and unbiased views' of the Williams rant.
During this same tournament, two other players were penalized for "coaching". So, should Serena Williams receive special treatment because she is a well-liked American in a U.S. Open, playing against a Japanese player? I think not, she should have been fined. And, even though the above article was written with Hillary Clinton in mind, if you have followed what has happened since President Donald Trump defeated Clinton, though this tournament was on a miniscule scale, one can see a resemblance to the U.S. Open match and how Serena Williams has been coddled.
