I've had the chance to sleep and gather my thoughts following the final and put my thoughts together. We have to split things into the tennis and then the controversy.
With regards to the tennis, I disagree with those who say that Serena was still not back to her best. Sometimes we don't see the things staring us in the face. Serena was playing fantastic tennis. She just happened to be facing a young woman who was playing extraordinary tennis. There just happened to be a match up component that Serena was unable to solve. Right from the start it was clear that Naomi had no problems with Serena's serve. Osaka was punishing Serena's second serve in a way that few other players have been able to do, perhaps Venus in her prime, Capriati, Clijsters and Sharapova have been able to make similar in roads. But of those only Venus had the ability to back up return of serve pressure with really big serving as well. And even then, Venus's serve could be erratic. In Osaka she faced a woman who's serve was also extraordinarily big. There was absolutely no zone of comfort for Serena. Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that it was clear than in baseline rallies Serena was not able to dominate her consistently. In fact Osaka's tendency to hit the ball deep tended to force Serena further and further back from the baseline which radically increased the level of discomfort she was experiencing. We have to remember that Serena has been here before, we have seen her unable to cope with the pressure in milestone grand slam finals before. Remember when she was going for 18? It took her a long time to get over that hump. And lets not talk about when she was going for the calendar slam. My take on Serena's performance was that it was more mentality than form which was her major impediment. This time Serena had two major hurdles to overcome: reaching 24, and winning her first slam after giving birth. Either one alone would have been tough to handle, she had both, in her home slam of all places. The court where some of the most egregious injustices have been perpetrated against her.
As for the controversy, I don't think anyone can dispute that each of the incidents were correct.
(1) It is clear that her coach was signalling her, which is something I absolutely loathe. I must admit I was shocked to see this, as Serena has always rejected on court coaching, so it was a surprise to see her getting signals. It is quite possible though that she didn't see it as she claims. I'm actually amazed that the umpire saw it. The fact that she was on the opposite side of the court from her box at the time makes me think that the umpire should have exercised common sense and just quietly warned Serena at the next changeover. "Your coach was giving you advice, if I see that again I'm going to penalise you". That would have taken care of it. I watched Justine Henin lose to Bartoli in the Wimbledon final, and before every point.... every point... she was looking at her box for advice. She didn't get a warning. The idea that the umpire didn't see that is not credible. Yet she got no warning. Why is that? Why was the punishment so different for Serena? And Henin is not unique. Just the other day, Rafa's box was clearly signalling him, he got no warning. Yet Serena in a slam final gets punished at a critical time in the match. I'm sorry but there's something very off about that. I'm no Serena fan. Never have been. I always liked Venus, but fair is fair.
(2) I don't have much to say about the racquet smash. That one is pretty cut and dried. It's consistently applied. Nothing to see there
(3) This is the one that really drives me crazy. Everyone knows I'm a huge Federer fan. I love his tennis. I've met him, he's a really nice guy, sincere and thoughtful. But I've never been such a fan boy that I would give him a pass because he's my guy. I just don't roll like that. The idea that Serena did anything worse than he did in confronting the umpire is laughable. The reality is that I could have brought up countless situations where men have challenged umpires at least as aggressively as Serena did, and I don't recall any of the men punished for it. But it's worse than that. At that point in the match - slam final - she had already been given 2 penalties. Someone yesterday tried to bring up a defence for the umpire that she had already been called twice so she was asking for it. Actually the point is that she had been called twice, you would think the umpire would have exercised good judgement at that point. Never once in the conversation did the umpire say to her, look I've called you twice now. Please be careful from this point forward because the next time I'll be forced to give you a game penalty. In any other sport the umpire would be expected to manage the circumstances and give the player context. This didn't happen. T|his was grossly incompetent in my view. I would say this if this was the first time Serena had been in a controversy on Ashe. Some will say, that's the point, this isn't the first time. Serena should have been aware of this, therefore it's on her. Anyone who thinks that is one of those sad people who has never been in a pressure situation in their life and has simply sat on the shoulders of giants. It doesn't work that way. The umpire is paid to manage the situation to create the most fair outcome for the players and at the same time give the fans their money's worth in terms of entertainment. He didn't do that.
Look.. I blame Serena for a great deal of this. She is entitled, and I will remain convinced that Venus has never really competed fully against her because the fall out would have impacted their relationship, and it simply wasn't worth it to her. That's why I don't really warm up to Serena much. But at the same time, she is treated differently. It is extraordinary to me that officials don't hesitate to take unusual steps against this black woman in particular. There is something there. I am convinced of it. Most might disagree with me. On this I will not be moved. Feel free to disagree with me, but I think y'all know I don't give a damn about that. It is what it is. One treatment for her, something else for the rest
