Serena Williams Fined $17K For U.S. Open Outburst

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Serena Williams was handed $17,000 fine by the U.S. Tennis Association for her outburst during her controversial loss in the U.S. Open Sunday. The tennis star meanwhile spent her post-loss time in mom mode, at least on social media, while Billie Jean King and the National Organization for Women called out tennis for having a double standard toward women.

Williams’s only message Saturday night was a brief Instagram video of her 1-year-old daughter Olympia, wearing a miniature version of her mom’s tutu and little sneakers, toddling with her beloved doll, Qai Qai. Serena laughed about her daughter’s shoes as she filmed the moment, asking Olympia where she’d gotten “them shoes.” On Sunday morning, she shared an image of a girl in first-day-of-school clothes with a Serena logo and asked, “What does your ‘S’ stand for? #beseenbeheard.”


It was left for others to go beyond Williams’s remarks to reporters and King, a pioneer in women’s rights and sports, quickly stepped up. “Several things went very wrong during the U.S. Open women’s finals today,” she tweeted. “Coaching on every point should be allowed in tennis. It isn’t and, as a result, a player was penalized for the actions of her coach. This should not happen.

“When a woman is emotional, she’s ‘hysterical’ and she’s penalized for it,” she continued, echoing Williams’s point that male players are never penalized for outbursts — even the profane ones. “When a man does the same, he’s ‘outspoken’ and there are no repercussions. Thank you, Serena Williams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same.”

The U.S. Tennis Association weighed in shortly, announcing that Williams was being fined $17,000 for three code violations.