‘Just Couldn’t Let It Go’ – When Martina Navratilova Criticized Serena Williams’ Angry Meltdown Against the Chair Umpire in a Crucial Grand Slam Final

Serena Williams is one of the best tennis players of all time. In her illustrious career, she has won 23 Grand Slams and is fondly called the queen of the court. Over time, Serena has established herself as a benchmark of a powerful female athlete.

Back in the 2018 US Open final, playing against Naomi Osaka, she had an outburst against the chair umpire for docking her points. Resultantly, the umpire awarded another game to the opponent. Later, the former World number one claimed that the umpire has double standards for women and men.

The incident caught fire on social media, and many experts gave their opinion on the same. While some were supporting Serena, former tennis star Martina Navratilova was not happy with her behavior.

Martina Navratilova reacts to Williams’ outburst

Reacting to the situation, Navratilova agreed that there was a bias. However, she believes that Serena deserves the docking as she chose the wrong platform and time to bring up the matter of inequality.

 “She completely had the right message about women’s inequality, but it wasn’t the right time to bring it up. Had I behaved like that on a tennis court, I would have expected to get everything that happened to Serena. It should’ve ended right there with the point warning, but Serena just couldn’t let it go,” she said.

Read more: ‘Probably the Worst Girlfriend’ – When Serena Williams Candidly Spoke About Her Insecurities in Relationships

Naomi Osaka went on to win the match and became the first-ever Japanese woman to win a Grand Slam. Serena definitely could have reacted after the match as it was an all-important US Open final after all. The distraction surely would have affected her concentration in the match.

Serena Williams’ disappointing Wimbledon 2022 return

Serena was out of action for almost over a year. Last featuring in the Wimbledon Championships 2021, the 4o-year-old decided to stage a comeback in the same tournament this year.

However, the 23-time Grand Slam champion crashed out of the first round of the tournament. Playing against Harmony Tan of France, Serena was not at her usual best and looked rusty. Even though she gave a good challenge to the 24-year-old, the American could not end on the winning side.

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With no plans for retirement in the near future, we hope to see Serena competing in the US Open later this year. Can Serena win her 24th Grand Slam? Let us know in the comments.