Both Sides of The Net: Pro Serena

Thirty-six year old world-renown tennis champion Serena Williams was recently charged with three code violations by umpire, Carlos Ramos. The player was furious about the unfair charge, and voiced her frustration.

Serena spoke about how unfairly and poorly she was being treated because of her gender- a clear example of how men and women are treated differently in the sports industry and how relevant the topic is today.

Serena wants to stand up for what she believes in as a women and advocate for what is right. In the past, men have verbally abused and said multiple things to umpires and have not gotten penalized while Serena gets penalized for making a claim.

“I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things,” said Williams.

Carlos Ramos went on to penalize the well known tennis player for cheating during the match. Serena a reputable player was taken aback from this claim.

“I have never cheated in my life. You owe me an apology,” said Williams.

Many were upset that Serena took away from her young opponent’s win with her outburst of anger, Naomi Osaka.

Serena was quoted telling Ramos that she’d rather lose than cheat.

It was right of her to stand up for things that matter and have a cause. Recently, in the tennis industry, many hits have been blown at women.

Serena Williams was previously accused by a group of french people for wearing a black suit, and Alize Cornet was penalised for changing her shirt during a match. Men do this all the time and do not get penalized.

Serena took this incident as a chance to finally speak up because she is sick of women constantly being neglected and being treated differently.

“I am sick and tired of men always getting treated better than women; it’s simply unfair, and I hope to become the first woman president to change that. I am so happy that Serena is standing up for the women community as a whole,” said Lauren Song (‘20).

Serena Williams has endured harsh racism and sexism throughout her career, and has finally reached a point of success. She is choosing to use her platform to talk about issues that matter, which should be seen as admirable.

Both Sides of The Net: Con Serena

Serena Williams negative encounter with Naomi caused so much controversy and opinionated statements, making it hard to deny the 36 year old Serena Williams’s position is at fault.

William’s got called out for a foul play and reacted angrily, claiming that she would never play unfairly.

Serena had a public mental breakdown on all the referee’s calls seizing all the spotlight from Osaka’s win. Osaka was a japanese born star, and Serena Williams was her idol. Williams is a grown adult, and her acting in such an unethical manner was simply childish.

“I played tennis growing up, and I realize that this sport is independent and shows your willpower and determination and Serena taking the win away from Osaka and making a scene like that is just unacceptable. It breaks my heart to see two powerful women against each other,” said Elisabeth Lee (‘20).

Osaka proudly won the match 6 winning the fort grand slam title for Japan against her role model. After winning, rather than rejoicing was saddened because of the uproar caused by Williams. Osaka worked so hard to get where she is today and instead of being proud and feeling a sense of accomplishment she was miserable and felt out of place.

“This puts things into perspective on how unfair Serena was on ruining Osaka’s moment. Her actions were childish and unacceptable. Osaka deserved respect, and her idol failed to give it to her,” said David Gjerde (‘20).

Williams is a reputable tennis player and should understand the feeling of working hard and winning instead her selfish acts are simply unacceptable.