Chair umpire Carlos Ramos has broken his silence after a storm erupted on the back of his decision to hit Serena Williams with three code violations in the US Open final.
Ramos first gave the 23-time Grand Slam winner a code violation for coaching and then things escalated from there.
Unhappy with the punishment, Williams proceeded to smash her racket, which resulted in a second code violation, and then continued to remonstrate with Ramos, calling him a “thief” and a liar”.
Her accusations were the final straw as the umpire hit her with a game penalty.
During her post-match press conference, Williams claimed the matter was sexist as she believed she would have been treated differently if she was male.
Ramos has spoken to Portugal’s Tribuna Expresso about the issue, revealing he opted to stay in his hotel on Sunday to “complicated situations”, but he is still upbeat.
“I am good, under the circumstances. It’s an unhappy situation but a la carte refereeing doesn’t exist. Don’t you worry about me!”
He is set to return to the chair this weekend’s Davis Cup tie between Croatia and the United States in Zagreb.
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