Serena Williams took the case of Alexander Zverev’s fury and spoke of the double standard of tennis: “If I had done that I would be in jail”

This is not the first time (nor the last) that Serena Williams It refers to issues such as discrimination, machismo and double standards. On the tennis circuit or in life itself. She knows that she is a voice that is heard, as a reference in world sport, a right acquired through a very successful career that includes being number 1 in the world and obtaining 23 Grand Slam titles.

whenever you can, Serena especially remembers her episode of anger at the US Open 2009, during her scandalous semifinal with the Belgian Kim Clijsters, when she verbally attacked a line judge with all kinds of expletives and a hurtful phrase: “I’m going to kill you”. The story began with a foot-fault penalty that left her match-point down and possessed by fury, Williams approached the lineswoman and threatened her. The judge quickly went to the referee of the match, told him what had happened, and Williams was sanctioned with another penalty point for verbal aggression. The match ended automatically with a victory for Clijsters.

The threat to the line judge

That time, Serena was disqualified and fined $175,000. And she gave her case as an example at the time of a similar situation and that she considered that she did not have the same outcome at the time of the penalty.

In the last few hours, the CNN signal broadcast an interview with the youngest of the Williams sisters, conducted by the journalist Christiane Amanpour. In the middle of the note, Serena was consulted for the episode starring German Alexander Zverev during a first-round doubles match at the ATP 500 in Acapulco. The World No. 3 was disqualified from the tournament and fined $40,000 for the incident, in which he nearly hit referee Alessandro Germani after repeatedly hitting the chair with his racket. At one point, the umpire had to stick one of his feet out to avoid a possible blow. Zverev has not received any other sanctions for the fit of rage.

Zverev’s fit of rage

Serena had no doubts. “In this specific case, the double standard that the tennis authorities have was seen once again. If I had done that I would probably be in jail.”, he pointed. And then he expanded on the idea: “That double rod is there all the time, you see it when other things happen on the circuit. And then you think: “If I had done that? hmm.” And he finished: “But nothing happens. At the end of the day I am who I am, and I love who I am.”

That time, due to her excessive reaction in the match with Clijsters, Serena was also placed on “parole” for two years. In other words, if she had repeated a similar attitude, she would have had more problems. But she had one more resounding case, over time, in the 2018 US Open final with Portuguese chair umpire Carlos Ramos. It was against the Japanese Naomi Osaka. Ramos sanctioned her for different attitudes and ended up taking a game from her. Serena had called him a “thief”.

“That episode made me feel that double standard, the double standard. Me calling him a ‘thief’ and him taking a game from me made me feel like it was a sexist decision. He has never taken a game from a man for calling him a ‘thief’ or worse, ”Williams said that time at his press conference.

Serena lost that final with Osaka. She was one of the four Grand Slam definitions in which she could not be crowned since 2017 and with which she relegated the dream of reaching 24 major titles to match the mark of the Australian Margaret Court. During her interview with CNN, Williams joked about that circumstance: “He should have reached 30 or 32 Grand Slams by now. I should have had it the record, really, I’ve had many opportunities to have it. But I’m not going to give up.” And he specified that he aims to be able to achieve it at the next Roland Garros. A career that includes 7 celebrations in Australia, 3 in Paris, 7 in Wimbledon and 6 in the US Open.