Alexander Zverev news: Serena Williams calls out ‘double standards’ in tennis

Tennis News
Serena Williams and Venus Williams at Los Angeles premiere of King Richard

Serena Williams said she believes she would have faced harsher punishment had she engaged in similar behaviour to Alexander Zverev in Acapulco.

Williams was fined $175,000 after her 2009 US Open semifinal ended with a farcical penalty point after a foot fault had given Kim Clijsters two match points kicking off a tantrum from the American which cost her dearly.

Zverev on the other hand was hit with a $40,000 fine while also forfeiting his share of the prize money and his rankings points.

Williams feels that the handling of the Zverev case shows a clear double standard from tennis authorities.

“There is absolutely a double standard,” former world No. 1 Williams told CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour.

“I would probably be in jail if I did that – like, literally, no joke.

“I was actually on probation once,” she added, but declined with a chuckle to discuss further when Amanpour inquired about the incident.

“You see that (double standard) when you see other things happening on the Tour, like, ‘wait – if I had done that? Hmm,'” said Williams.

“But it’s okay. At the end of the day, I am who I am and I love who I am.”

Williams has recently called out problematic behaviour in the media and now adresses double standards on the tours.

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It appears likely that once Williams calls time on her career there could be some explosive revelations and possibly more callouts from the Grand Slam queen.

Williams told CNN that she hopes to be fit to take part in the French Open, in a bid to win her 24th Grand Slam.

“Paris is one of my favorite cities, and I actually love the clay. So we’ll see what happens. Hopefully if my body is holding up, then I’ll definitely be there.”

Williams believes that she needs to take back the narrative surrounding her career, which too long has been driven by misconceptions.

She hopes the film King Richard, which closely examines the Williams’ sisters relationship with their father and coach.

“Unfortunately, entering a new sport where it’s predominantly, you know, White and having my dad have like this villain character, when it just wasn’t true, just having to deal with that my entire career, from day one to the very end, was just really important for us just to tell the truth,” she said.

“You know, in order to be an athlete, especially in a single sport, it takes a lot of work, and it takes a lot of dedication. And I look at my daughter and I say, ‘Wow, I don’t think I could do what my dad did every single day.’ It’s a lot of work.”

Alexander Zverev Serena Williams

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