Roger Federer has his say on Serena Williams-Carlos Ramos storm

US Open
Roger Federer interview

Roger Federer concedes “mistakes” were made during the controversial US Open women’s final, but insists umpires “have to do their jobs”.

Naomi Osaka won the 2018 US Open final to win her maiden Grand Slam, but the match was overshadowed by Serena Williams’ confrontation with chair umpire Carlos Ramos.

The official gave her code violations for coaching and racket abuse, and a game penalty for calling him a “thief” and a “liar”.

During the post-match press conference the American then hit out at sexism in tennis, claiming would have been treated differently if she was male.

While the WTA has backed Williams with regards to sexism in the sport, the International Tennis Federation has thrown their weight behind Ramos.

Federer was asked for his views during an interview with told Texas’ station KVUE.

“I think it’s interesting because I think it’s important to look at it, you know. I just think every umpire has their own style, it’s just how it is I think in any sport,” he said.

“Another guy knows, okay, this guy misbehaves quite often so I’ll give him a warning quicker, or I’ll be more lenient with a guy because actually he’s a nice guy and he just cannot control himself. So I think it really depends on the situation.

He added: “I hope it’s not the case [that there is gender bias in tennis] but I think what happened, especially in the final and also with [Alize] Cornet, obviously there were mistakes that were done along the way and there should be more discretion used sometimes.

“But at the same time they have to do their job, that’s what we also want them to do. So it’s been tricky, but really interesting case to study in my opinion.”

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