Carlos Ramos penalised Serena Williams three times during her loss to Naomi Osaka, ultimately awarding the Japanese player a game after Williams called Ramos a “thief” and a “liar”.
Williams accused Ramos of sexism, pointing out that men are rarely called out for such outbursts. Ramos is a “gold-badge” umpire, a status conferred on the top officials in tennis and has umpired a final at all four grand slams.
Afterwards, Serena Williams was fined a total of 17,000 US dollars for her offences during the US Open final.
The 23-time grand slam champion lost her cool after being given a warning for coaching from the stands early in the second set against Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
She was penalised a point for a second offence, smashing her racket, and then a game after she verbally abused umpire Carlos Ramos, calling him a liar and a thief. That put Williams 5-3 down in the second set and she went on to lose 6-2 6-4.
The final descended into rancour as Williams and Ramos, a very experienced Portuguese official, took centre stage, overshadowing a remarkably composed performance from 20-year-old Osaka in her first grand slam final.
Williams was furious when she was given a coaching violation after Ramos spotted a hand gesture from her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, telling the umpire she would rather lose than cheat.
Mouratoglou later admitted to ESPN that he had been coaching, but Williams insisted she had not seen the signal and that they had never discussed such communication.
After dropping serve in the fifth game of the second set and smashing her racket, Williams was given an automatic second violation, resulting in a point penalty, something of which she initially seemed unaware.
She continued her argument with Ramos at the next change of ends and accused him of being a thief for taking a point away from her. Ramos gave her a third violation, which resulted in a game penalty.
A tearful Williams argued her case with tournament referee Brian Earley and grand slam supervisor Donna Kelso, claiming a male player would not have been punished in such a situation, but a tournament statement later confirmed the umpire’s decisions were final.