Serena Williams triggers sexism debate

Serena Williams received three warnings from umpire Carlos Ramos during the US Open women's final. After the match Williams called Ramos a "thief" and accused him of sexism, pointing out that men had not received warnings under similar circumstances. Was her accusation justified?

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The Daily Telegraph (GB) /

A bad loser

In trying to pass off the indignation over her misconduct as sexist, Williams is typical of female stars who are no longer capable of self-criticism, The Daily Telegraph complains:

“After a 6-2 6-4 defeat, which gave Osaka her very first Grand Slam at the tender age of 20, Serena had a chance to apologise for losing it. Instead, as is now customary with female stars, she went on the attack, citing the MeToo amendment. Under the MeToo amendment, anything which happens that women don't like is the product of sexism, always and invariably without fail. … she protested, sending up grievance flak to distract attention from one key fact: she was a bad loser.”

Irish Independent (IE) /

Outburst understandable

Serena Williams' strong reaction is entirely understandable in view of her long history as a victim of racist and sexist attacks, The Irish Independent comments:

“When you have been wronged a thousand times over, it's hard to credit the notion that 'right' exists at all. … The problem comes when we expect great athletes to remain within boundaries they have spent their lives breaching. The lie is that you can treat Serena as if she were anybody else, when all the available evidence suggests otherwise. The hypocrisy is in demanding that humans abide by values they had no part in defining and often work actively against them.”