Serena's Apology

Fiend at Court Unplugged

Following her loss to Naomi Osaka in the 2018 US Open Finals, Serena Williams had a lot of soul searching to do. The emotional processing following that match included her own behavior, the code violations, and ultimately the reactions of the fans. In Serena’s own words, “Finally I realized that there was only one way for me to move forward. It was time for me to apologize to the person who deserved it the most.”

The complete text of Serena’s apology was included in an essay that ran in Harper’s BAZAAR. In her note to Osaka, Serena emphasized how proud she was of her and that she was truly sorry. Based solely on that communication, Serena genuinely regrets the events that transpired as Naomi Osaka had her breakthrough moment winning her first Grand Slam. However, the note falls well short of acknowledging that her own actions and behavior were the catalysts for all that transpired.

Once chair umpire Carlos Ramos issued the coaching warning, there are multiple ways that the match could have played out. While Serena has claimed that she did not see the coaching that Patrick Mouratoglou offered, there is split screen video of her looking at him and nodding after he issued that guidance. It is generally understood that the signal was to instruct Serena to come closer to the net.

Had Serena accepted and effectively implemented the change in tactics, there is a chance that she could have come back and won the match. In that case, the coaching warning would have been inconsequential. There is also a chance that Serena would go on to lose anyway, but without all the drama. Osaka simply played brilliantly in the final.

There was even another alternative ending to the match following Serena’s tantrum. It could have disrupted Osaka’s composure leading to her own emotional meltdown and a loss. Osaka held her nerve while Serena continued to spiral out of control. The fact that it didn’t go down that way is to Osaka’s credit.

The primary job of the chair official in a match is to keep one player from creating or receiving an unfair advantage over the other. Coaching is one potential advantage. An emotional outburst that disrupts the flow of the match and concentration of an opponent is another. It is why the code violation system exists.

The narrative that continues from the Williams camp is that Serena was simply standing up for women’s rights and drawing attention to gender inequities in the sport. Those are two noble causes. Neither of those issues had anything to do with how the code violations issued for Serena’s behavior transpired.

In the Harper’s BAZAAR essay, Serena claims that the match between two men never would have had the escalating code violations that occurred in her match. That may be the case, but for a different reason. There aren’t many examples of men having an emotional meltdown following a warning for a coaching code violation. Actually, there aren’t that many examples in women’s tennis either. It was a very unique set of circumstances.

Gerald Marzorati observes what he calls the “Beyonce-fication” of Serena in his book Seeing Serena. He observes that she has become a pop icon to the point that she no longer is subject to using the press as an intermediary to cast her own spin on events that transpired. This exists for all players in the modern era who now have social media as a mechanism to issue their own statements. They don’t have to convince a reporter to run with it. The Harper’s BAZAAR article illustrates how Serena’s superstardom grants her a much larger direct platform.

Naomi’s response to Serena’s apology was carefully crafted. “People can misunderstand anger for strength because they can’t differentiate between the two. No one has stood up for themselves the way you have and you need to continue trailblazing.”

Those two sentences are actually two independent thoughts. Anger is not strength. Serena faced incredible levels of adversity in her career in tennis and has consistently stood up for herself. That fact does not make that US Open Finals episode a display of strength. Quite the opposite.