"It’s a fact that the sport that gave us John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase and Jimmy Connors and so many other bad boys has tolerated without penalty far worse behavior than the language Williams used Saturday evening. She
said as much in her defense during the match and after, and
others quickly agreed with her.
“I will admit I have said worse and not gotten penalized,” James Blake, the former top-ranked U.S. male tennis player, wrote on Twitter Saturday night. “And I’ve also been given a 'soft warning' by the ump where they tell you knock it off or I will have to give you a violation. He should have at least given her that courtesy.”
"Mardy Fish, another former American men's No. 1, also went on Twitter after the match:
“Two ridiculous calls today. I can promise you, that’s not coaching, racquet abuse no doubt, but the verbal abuse??? It’s the US Open Final!!!”
"And Patrick McEnroe on Sunday’s Good Morning America: “It has to be said that she has a point when it comes to gender bias. I believe that a chair umpire who’s a man, against another man, would have said, whether it’s Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer, ‘Listen, you’ve got to pipe down now. You’ve got to be quiet. You’ve gotten two violations. If you get another one, you’re getting a game penalty.’ Nobody wants to see that happen, especially in the US Open final.”
John McEnroe is what one would consider a "special cause". He's an absolute outlier, the worst of the worst. So IMO, it is wrong to think of his situation as comparable to what happened with Serena on Saturday. And still, in 20 years of pro tennis, McEnroe was fined a total of $69,500. Serena got hit with $17k just 2 days ago. She's nearing $200k in a sport that took decades for Grand Slam events to pay equal award money. Perception is reality.
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