Photo Credit: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
Last weekend, Serena Williams challenged chair umpire Carlos Ramos during the U.S. Open Grand Slam finals for attacking her character and making sexist judgment calls during her match against Naomi Osaka. Now, umpires are thinking about boycotting Williams’ matches going forward.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and United States Tennis Association (USTA) have supported Williams’ plight with the umpire, but unnamed official told The Times of London that umpires feel “not supported” by the USTA and Ramos’ case shows why.
People reports the source told The Times that Ramos was “thrown to the wolves for simply doing his job and was not willing to be abused for it.”
According to USA Today, Ramos told his native Portugal’s Tribuna Expresso, “I’m fine, given the circumstances.” He went on to say, “It’s a delicate situation, but ‘a la carte’ arbitration does not exist. Do not worry about me!”
While the WTA and USTA are adamantly backing Serena, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) is standing behind Ramos.
The ITF has released the following statement relating to umpiring decisions during the 2018 #USOpen Women’s Finalhttps://t.co/unVikjmsUP pic.twitter.com/buWRnWHUFz
— ITF (@ITF_Tennis) September 10, 2018
“Carlos Ramos is one of the most experienced and respected umpires in tennis. Mr. Ramos’ decisions were in accordance with the relevant rules and were re-affirmed by the U.S. Open’s decision to fine Serena Williams for the three offences.”
The statement continued, “It is understandable that this high-profile and regrettable incident should provoke debate. At the same time, it is important to remember that Mr. Ramos undertook his duties as an official according to the relevant rule book and acted at all times with professionalism and integrity.”
It looks like this match is just getting started.