US Open: “Serena Gate” and the reactions: “The star of the show was the referee”

The US Women’s Open Final was overshadowed by the events surrounding Serena Williams, who was harshly criticized in the social media for her behaviour in the match against the later winner Naomi Osaka. But there were also lively discussions about Referee Carlos Ramos and the coaching rule.

Patrick Mouratoglou is French – and he knows what to do. Of course he congratulated the new US Open winner Naomi Osaka after the 6:2, 6:4 in a memorable finale also via Twitter. But Williams’ long-time coach was also keen to chirp his point of view on “Serena Gate” into the world.

“The star of the show was once again the chair referee. The second time at the US Open – and the third time for Serena in a US Open final,” said Mouratoglou, adding with reference to the referees: “Should they be allowed to influence the outcome of a match? When do we decide this won’t happen again?”

The 48-year-old admitted having “coached” Serena after the game – for which Referee Carlos Ramos issued the first warning to Serena Williams in accordance with the rules. This was followed by another – including the deduction of points – after the US superstar had smashed his bat.

And because Williams had called the Portuguese referee “thief” and “liar” a little later, Ramos imposed a “code violation”, with the 36-year-old suddenly trailing 3:5 in the second set instead of 3:4. She didn’t recover from that.

While there were no discussions about the consequences of the “Racket Abuse”, the “Coaching Rule” was also hotly debated on the net. Kristina Mladenovic, 53rd World Ranking and friend of French Open finalist Dominic Thiem, wrote: “It’s clear that Patrick wanted to tell her something, but everyone coaches anyway,” said Mladenovic.

Moratoglou told ESPN: “I coached like 100 percent of coaches – in 100 percent of matches!” US icon Chris Evert went one step further and called for the abolition of the coaching rule.

Evert also criticised Ramos on Twitter for not explicitly admonishing Williams again or explaining the “verbal abuse” rule before the match was played. Former British number one Jo Durie wondered about Williams: “She has lost control of herself. What a drama…”

Former New York champion Andy Roddick scolded. “That was the worst performance of a referee I’ve ever seen. The worst!!!”

Former number one Victoria Azarenka agreed with Williams’ sexism accusation: “If it had been a men’s match, it wouldn’t have happened that way”, the Belarusian wrote with a view to the warning for grumbling, which was synonymous with the withdrawal from the game.

The great Billie Jean King, a pioneer in many areas, took the same line and referred to the different and gender-specific perception of reactions: “If a woman is emotional, she is equal to’hysterical’ and is punished for it. When a man does the same, he is’blunt’ and there is no effect,” she twittered. Many international media, however, took Williams to court and described her behaviour as “unworthy”.

The players’ organisation WTA announced an examination of the events: “During the match there were matters to be investigated. But tonight it’s time to celebrate these two incredible players, both of great integrity,” a press release hastily released after the scandal final said.