On the one hand I agree with a point made in the New York Times, that it was the right argument at the wrong time.
On the other hand, and this is what I think provokes such shameful reactions, Serena is not a meek, demure little girl but an adult who, yes, has a temper and lost her self-control on court, but had a powerful set of arguments to support her complaint that she was badly treated and that the implication that she cheated is disgraceful and without foundation.
To begin with, she did not see the 'coaching' the Umpire for which she received her first penalty, whereas everyone watching in a men's game saw the Umpire in that match step down from his seat to coach Nick Kyrgios, a ridiculous state of affairs if ever there was one. Secondly plenty of players have 'had words' with umpires that did not result in fines, many if not most of them men, and thirdly the Umpire Carlos Ramos has form having penalized Venus Williams in another tournament. I can't prove it, but I think he has a personal grievance with the sisters. If it is about the application of the rules, players have a right to demand consistency across the game, and not to discover that the rules change when the umpire changes.
Just as women have the right to equality in the sport. They put in as much in terms of physical fitness and training as the men. And plenty of 3 set matches between the top 5 players and the rest are tedious knockabouts which fill a tournament schedule.
That Serena has been so viciously attacked and racially abused is par for the course, as the Williams sisterrs have been the subject of abuse since they started. What they don't like is that Serena fights back, that she is Black, Proud and Loud -and has a case the tennis authorities must answer. The latest smear, which comes from the Rupert Murdoch stable of hate in Australia, is a cartoon that drags the world back to the days when slaves knew their place, and nice girls did not play tennis. And note how 'white' Naomi Osaka is in the cartoon.
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...orance-on-race
One also wonders about the management of the US Open, when Nadal began a tennis match at 10pm in the evening (it finished at 2am). 10 pm? Why not 7 am?