Serena Williams was impressive at the US Open throughout her career, picking up six titles in New York.
The American won her first Major title at Flushing Meadows in 1999, as Williams beat Martina Hingis in the final, 6-3, 7-6.
Over the next 15 years, Williams added another five US Open titles to her resume, including three in a row between 2012 and 2014.
In 2015, Roberta Vinci ended Serena Williams’ 26-match winning streak at the US Open when she took her down in the semi-finals.
Williams bounced back three years later, returning to the final where she took on young Japanese star Naomi Osaka.
The final was controversial for several reasons, and one particular incident was described as ‘odd’ by a WTA legend.
Lindsay Davenport said Umpire Carlos Ramos’ decision making was ‘odd’ during the 2018 US Open final
The 2018 US Open final between Osaka and Williams won’t soon be forgotten, as the latter received several code violations and penalties for incidents during the match.
- Received code violation for being coached by Patrick Mouratoglou
- Received a point penalty for a racket smash at 3-2 in the second set
- Received a game penalty for launching a rant at Carlos Ramos at 4-3 in the second set
Umpire Carlos Ramos was on the receiving end of a powerful rant from Williams, where she called him a ‘liar’ and demanded he give her an apology.
Speaking after the match, former world number one Lindsay Davenport criticized Ramos for allowing the situation to escalate.
“Carlos Ramos is a great umpire but he never tried to diffuse the situation with Serena [Williams],” she said.
“In that whole tirade, he easily could’ve said, ‘Serena, a couple of more words and you’re going to get a game [penalty] here’.
“There are a lot of things he could’ve done along the way to maybe not get to the point where it was a game [penalty], and really changed the whole narrative of this match.
“Ramos didn’t handle some of those conversations very well.”
Davenport also questioned Ramos’ decision to punish Williams after she was coached by Patrick Mouratoglou during the match, suggesting that it was an ‘odd’ thing to do.
“Also, how many times do coaches actually get warnings for coaching?” she said.
“The chair umpires almost never call it, so to call it in a Grand Slam final against a player that’s never really had it before just seemed odd.”
Having been gifted a game to extend her advantage from 4-3 to 5-3 in the second set, Osaka held her nerve in front of a frustrated US Open crowd to win her first Grand Slam title, 6-2, 6-4.
Boos rained down on Arthur Ashe Stadium, as Osaka apologized after winning the US Open.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“I know that everyone was cheering for her [Serena Williams] and I’m sorry it had to end like this.”
Osaka returned to win the US Open for a second time in 2020, beating Victoria Azarenka in a far less controversial final.
Carlos Ramos didn’t umpire Serena Williams’ matches at the 2019 US Open
US Open officials confirmed that the Portuguese umpire wouldn’t oversee any of Serena or Venus Williams’ matches ahead of the 2019 tournament.
After beating rival Maria Sharapova in her opening match at the 2019 US Open, Williams was asked for her thoughts on Ramos not umpiring any of her matches at the event.
“Yeah, I don’t know who that is,” she replied.
Williams reached the final of the US Open in 2019, but came up short against Canada’s Bianca Andreescu in straight sets, 3-6, 5-7.
The American legend returned to the event twice more in 2020 and 2022, but failed to win the title again, retiring as a six-time US Open champion.
Ramos has umpired ten Grand Slam finals during his career, but hasn’t returned to the chair for a showpiece match since his controversial clash with Williams seven years ago.
The incident didn’t help Ramos or Williams, and it would certainly be interesting to know how both of their careers would’ve panned out if things had gone down differently on Saturday, September 8, 2018.
