It hasn’t been long since Novak Djokovic secured his 24th Grand Slam by clinching the US Open final against Daniil Medvedev. Unsurprisingly, the entirety of the tennis world was marveling at Djokovic’s accomplishments. After all, his feat meant that he had overtaken the women’s tennis G.O.A.T., Serena Williams, who won 23 Grand Slams during her illustrious career. However, all the talk about Djokovic came to a standstill when the heartbreaking news of Simona Halep‘s four-year suspension broke. A salty and egotistic Serena Williams also proceeded to throw shade at Halep.

The roots of Williams’ shade go back to her 2019 meeting against Halep at the Wimbledon final. On that occasion, Halep surprisingly defeated Williams in straight sets and prevented the legendary American from picking up her 8th Wimbledon title. Now that Williams’ comments on Halep’s situation have gone viral, many tennis fans are upset with the legend’s behavior. Who can blame them?

Tennis fans mince no words as they tear Serena Williams apart

Williams’ comment, “8 is a better number”, was quite clearly a sly dig at Halep. The suggestion was that Halep should be stripped of her 2019 Wimbledon title. This would make Williams the 2019 Wimbledon champion in retrospect, allowing her to match Djokovic’s tally of 24 Grand Slam titles. However, a Twitter user was quite quick to point out that Halep had won the 2019 Wimbledon title fair and square.

This generated a flood of reactions. Most of them were aimed at Williams for her desperate attempt to secure Grand Slam parity with Novak Djokovic. One fan was quite brutal in assessing Williams’ resentful demeanor and suggested that she shouldn’t call herself a tennis G.O.A.T.

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Another targeted Williams for her bitterness over her 2019 loss to Halep and Djokovic’s monumental feat.

A well-known Djokovic fan also reacted, suggesting that Williams’ shade reflects her pain of being overtaken by Djokovic.

Yet another user used the term “disgrace” to ridicule Williams along with her fans.

One fan seemed particularly irked by Williams’ reaction to the latest twist in the Simona Halep saga.

Another fan quite firmly believes that Williams should be “ashamed” of the hatefulness she aimed at Halep.

Williams’ comments, according to another fan, were not expected, considering that Halep was a “fellow athlete” on the WTA tour.

Yet another fan fumed over Williams’ arrogance.

One fan thanked Naomi Osaka for stopping Williams from securing her 24th Grand Slam during their infamous US Open encounter.

It’s fair to say that most tennis fans aren’t pleased with Williams’ comments. On a more serious note, some of tennis’ most prominent names have spoken out against the ITIA’s decision to suspend Halep for four years.

READ MORE: ?It?s Time to Stop Tennis?- Simona Halep Says Serena Williams Has Other Priorities in Her Life

The tennis world speaks out against Halep’s suspension

The Simona Halep doping saga has seemed to go on and on. However, the latest decision dished out by the ITIA has left the majority of the tennis world aghast, with the exception of Serena Williams, of course. In fact, two of Serena Williams’ former coaches, Patrick Mouratoglou and Rennae Stubbs, have been the loudest when it comes to criticizing the four-year suspension.

Mouratoglou has more reason than most to protest as he is currently coaching Halep. The beleaguered Romanian Halep has sworn to keep her fight going by challenging the decision at Switzerland’s Court of Arbitration for Sport. So, for all we know, the long-drawn out Simona Halep doping saga may just have another twist to it.

What do you think of Halep’s current predicament? And do you believe Serena Williams was right to say what she said? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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