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2018 US Open Highlights: Serena Williams' dispute overshadows Naomi Osaka's final win | ESPN

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Discussion supporting Williams in the 2018 U.S Open

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Discussion supporting Williams in the 2018 U.S Open

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"Serena is an 'emotional player.' If she was a man, they would call her a 'fiery competitor.' And anyone who knows anything about tennis knows that." 

Mike Greenberg on Serena Williams (via Get Up)

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Sports are a salutary pastime for Americans especially because they emphasize perseverance, responsibility, hard work, and other attributes of excellent character. Sports also build an approach to teamwork and produce great self-overcoming and some self-knowledge when participants run up against their limits. Sports produce great joys as people overcome obstacles and strive for the level of excellence appropriate to them, just as they produce healthy agonies as people face defeat. It is salutary in many respects that women enter the sporting realm in greater numbers than they did in the past so that these lessons pervade American society.

And yet, when it comes to the most competitive levels of athletics, there seems to be a tension. Nowadays most Americans insist on equality between the sexes in all things, yet this insistence becomes murky when it comes to sports: We also thirst for athletic excellence, which is more commonly found in men. Can equality between men and women actually exist when it comes to sports?

Some scholars see male athletic excellence as a vestige of patriarchy. Eileen McConagh and Laura Pappano, authors of the 2009 book Playing with the Boys: Why Separate is not Equal in Sports, argue that segregation in sports is based on the false assumption that women and girls are unable to compete with men and boys. This segregation, they argue, perpetuates social inferiority.

Sports in our culture actively construct and reinforce stereotypes about sex differences, they argue. And the dozens of inspiring feminist examples of girls successfully competing in hockey, football or golf seem to show that girls can do anything that guys do. Much of our government policy and popular culture adheres to the principle of equality, so that girls are expected to compete on a level comparable to boys.

But these social trends run up against certain limits. Research, history, and plain common sense show that men are consistently superior to women in the realm of sports. Given this reality, the pursuit of athletic equality may be a fool's errand.
Market Force and Equality
Although women's athletics have slowly gained some modest popularity in recent years, owners and fans never quite treat them equally. Pay between the NBA and the WNBA is uneven. The NBA players may seek to promote equality through their television ads, but they do not demand that their sisters in the WNBA receive "equal pay for equal work." Equal pay would require a substantial pay cut for the NBA players. Further, the pursuit of equality has not led to a demand that WNBA players play with the same size ball as NBA players or have the same three-point line. On the college level, these differences have caused the Department of Education and the Justice Department to get involved, as complaints about inequality in college athletics have been filed and investigated at increasing rates during the Obama administration.

Then there is the matter of viewer interest. Far fewer people watch women's college basketball in person and on television. According to the NCAA, the average attendance for women's basketball games at the Division I level was 1,517 per game in 2015; South Carolina led Division I in attendance with just over 12,000 fans per home game. Division I men's basketball teams averaged three times more than women's games with over 4,700 fans per game; the South Carolina women's team would have finished twenty-ninth in the men's game in attendance. Three men's teams finished averaging over 20,000 fans per home game (Syracuse, Kentucky, and Louisville). The NCAA tournament attendance average for women was 5,708, while the men's tournament averaged 20,550 per session.

Do the dictates of equality demand the Carrier Dome be opened for Syracuse women's basketball team? Or does equality demand a smaller arena so that they can have the same experience of playing in a gym filled to capacity?

Market forces require that women's athletics have different venues and facilities, just as the WNBA gets unequal pay. Fewer people watch or attend; the sports generate less revenue, and the WNBA is somewhat dependent on subsidies from the NBA. It makes sense that there should be some relationship between revenue and facilities.
Difference and Equality in Athletics
It is difficult to make an apples-to-apples comparison between men's and women's sports. We have different leagues for women in athletics, though the powers that be would never accept "different leagues" for women in academics and other ventures. We don't have men's debate and women's debate, but we have men's golf and women's golf. Why do we allow separation between the sexes in sports?

We seem to be at the point where women, at the highest levels, receive the same quality training as men at the highest levels. We can test the Playing with the Boys assumptions with good hard data.

A controlled experiment about sex differences in athletics can be conducted in track and field. Women and men run 100 meters and jump the high jump. World-class women's Olympic athletes and world record holders presumably receive training equal to that of male Olympic athletes, and they receive better training for a longer period of time than high school or college athletes.

Comparing women's world records in track and field with the 2015 winners of Division III men's athletics and Louisiana's high school track and field champions yields interesting results.

Only in the long jump do women's world record holders beat the men's NCAA Division III champion from 2015, although women's world record holders would win every event in the Louisiana boys' high school meet. Louisiana is the 25 th state in terms of population. The 2015 California boys' champion s beat the women's world record in several events, however.

When looking at the field events, the difference narrows due to the special advantages given to women.

The results reflect the fact that women use lighter weights of shot, javelins, and discuses. Women's Olympic shot are 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds), while men's shot are over 7 kilograms (16.01 lbs.). Men's discuses are 22 centimeters in diameter and 1.75 kilograms; women use a discus with an 18-centimeter diameter that weighs 1 kilogram. Men's javelins must weigh 800 grams and be 2.6 meters long, while women must throw 600-gram javelins that are 2.2 meters long. Moreover, the Russian and East German record holders in the shot put and the discus throw broke the record in the late 1980s-before robust steroid testing.

What does equality demand? Should equality advocates demand the use of men's field equipment? Should the Justice Department investigate such discriminatory practices? Or should such discrimination be lauded as necessary to achieve greater equality?
The Implications of Physical Difference for Other Sports
The physical difference detected in track and field permeates all sports, most measurably in golf and basketball where we can conduct comparisons.

Golf courses for the PGA Tour are 7,200 yards long on average; LPGA courses average 6,500 yards. Consider the 2014 US Opens, when both the Men's and Women's Open were held at Pinehurst No. 2 course in North Carolina. Presumably the fairways and the greens were quite similar, though some variation from the weather and wear on the course may have factored into the scores. The women's course played 6,600 yards long; the men's at 7,500 yards. The women's winner was Michelle Wie at -2 (the cut was +9), while Martin Kaymer shot -9 to win the men's event (where the cut was +5).

Generally, driving distance favors men, but driving accuracy favors women by substantial margins.

Putting is a fine skill and seems to be a great equalizer, though even in putting, differences between the sexes are perceptible. The 50 th place male golfer would have finished second on the LPGA in putting. The LPGA's best putter would have finished 24 th on the PGA tour.

Free throw shooting is roughly equivalent in the men's game and the women's game. Some of this is due to the fact that the women's ball has a one-inch smaller circumference than the men's basketball. Women (perhaps because of the smaller ball) shoot free throws at roughly the same rate as men. Let us examine this by team ranking in Division I basketball.

In three-point field goal percentage, there is a difference between the sexes though they shoot from the same line.

Perhaps women shoot a lower percentage because the defense in women's basketball is superior to the defense in men's basketball. Perhaps this is a lingering effect of millennia of patriarchy. Perhaps the girls can be taught to do it better. Perhaps men at the highest levels practice more than women at the highest levels.

Perhaps there are differences in the strength, stamina, agility, and speed of the two sexes.
Sports and the Pursuit of Excellence
Inequality of intelligence, Tocqueville writes, will always be with us. With apologies to Aristophanes, inequalities traceable to physical beauty and age are also hallmarks of human life. Such inequalities need not affect the principle of equal treatment and they add flavor to life.

Much the same can be said of sports. Sports are a vestige of the age of inequality. We celebrate and recognize excellence. We can identify the winners. We admire them for their excellence.

Teams with too much success-the Dukes, the Alabamas, the New England Patriots, the New York Yankees-are subject to a resentful, envious hatred. "Let someone else win" is a most democratic sentiment. Yet when these traditional powers play, we watch. Excellence fascinates us, and it brings out excellence in others. Nothing very important hangs on whether one team wins or another. We argue about it at the water cooler because, even in our democratic age, human beings admire excellence. Sports scream: "Some playing fields can't be leveled. Some competitors are better than others!"

In this, sports speak the truth. There is no fine line between athletic accomplishments for women and men. Men are generally bigger, stronger, and faster. Where strength and speed and agility are the factors determining success, human beings watch men's sports.

Sports bring out some of the differences between the sexes. Sports are valuable ballast in the American democratic regime. Would that we could acknowledge differences and celebrate them instead of burying them under a mountain of false hopes. Would that we could allow reality to govern our thoughts as they do our actions.

A sensible approach to equality in sports would be to acknowledge differences between men and women. Men are more interested in sports than women. Men are better at sports than women. We acknowledge the second reality through the very existence of women's sports. We acknowledge the first reality in how we act.

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A Sporting Difference: On Men's and Women's Athletics

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Despite current efforts to level the playing field between men and women in every area, the differences between men's and women's professional and collegiate sports make clear that some inequalities are unavoidable. With strength and speed as the factors governing success, men's athletics will alway

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Serena Williams is fined $10,500 for US Open line judge tirade

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John McEnroe has said the American should be suspended after abusing a lineswoman in her semi-final defeat by Kim Clijsters

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After receiving a coaching violation in Saturday's U.S. Open final, Serena Williams shouted at the chair umpire and went on a wicked downward spiral that eventually led to a stunning game penalty which helped 20-year-old Naomi Osaka pull a massive upset, sending Serena to her second straight loss in a Grand Slam final and putting herself at the center of yet another tennis controversy at the biggest tennis tournament in the United States.

This was the third time in Serena's U.S. Open career that she's been losing a match late in the tournament and melted down in bizarre fashion. Each time, it resulted in eventual defeat.

The drama started early in the second set, following Osaka's easy 6-2 win in the first, when chair umpire Carlos Ramos noticed Serena's long-time coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, making hand motions at his player. He assessed a warning for the illegal behavior (coaches can't communicate with players), which angered Serena and sent her to the chair to complain.

"If he gives me a thumbs up he's telling me to come on. We don't have any code and I know you don't know that and I understand why you may have thought that was coaching but I'm telling you it's not. I don't cheat to win, I'd rather lose. I'm just letting you know."

For Serena, it was a calm complaint compared to her previous U.S. Open outbursts, one of which came in a 2009 semifinal when she was called for a foot fault and then threatened to shove a ball down the throat of a lines woman. Two years later in the U.S. Open final, Serena was called for hindrance after yelling during a point. In the midst of a lengthy tantrum, called chair umpire Eva Asderaki "ugly inside," among other things.

The calls that ignited all three tantrums could have passed without mention, but each were legitimate. On Saturday, ESPN cameras caught Mouratoglou pushing both hands forward as he looked at Serena, a move that commentator Chris Evert suggested was a signal to come forward and play at the net. It's a tactic that's worked well for Serena at this U.S. Open.

Mouratoglou admitted after the match that he was coaching but, not inaccurately, said that "illegal" coaching happens so often during matches (citing Rafael Nadal, a notorious offender) that it was inappropriate for it to happen in a U.S. Open final. On the contrary, one could argue that it's more appropriate because it's a U.S. Open final. Either way, no argument has ever been won, however, with the "yeah, but everybody does it" defense.

The irony is that Serena probably uses on-court coaching less than anyone on tour. During regular tournaments, coaches can go on the court during a changeover for a brief visit. Serena doesn't utilize it, choosing instead to work out her issues on her own.

But instead of letting it go and taking a penalty-less violation, Serena let the moment unravel her, as similar moments have in the past. She mistook the coaching violation for Ramos impugning her character, like he was accusing her of cheating. He didn't - the violation was for Mouratoglou offering the coaching, not Serena taking it.

As she continued to seethe, Serena lost serve a few minutes later, slammed her racquet on the ground and received a warning, both of which are relatively common occurrence during tennis matches. But because it was Serena's second violation, she was assessed a point penalty that gave Osaka a 15-0 lead in the 1-1 service game.

This time, Serena wasn't as calm, demanding an apology for Ramos. "You owe me an apology," she shouted. "I have never cheated in my life, I have a daughter and I stand what's right for her." (ESPN synced up the replays later and Serena was clearly looking in her coach's direction as he was motioning.)

When the one-sided discussion ended, Serena resumed playing, trading games with Osaka. All seemed calm, back to normal even. Then, almost as if she couldn't help herself, Serena began delivering another rant at Ramos during the changeover at 4-3, in which she called him a "thief." He quickly assessed a game penalty that put Osaka up 5-3, just one game from victory.

It sent Serena into a frenzy. "Because I'm a woman, you're going to take this away from me?" she yelled at tournament officials.

Serena failed to realize (and likely never will) that she took it away from herself. Mouratoglou admitted to the coaching. Once that violation was given, Serena knew that breaking her racquet would lead to a point penalty. She did it anyway. And once she received the point penalty, a game penalty was next. Maybe Ramos was too quick on the trigger. Maybe he didn't need to call Mouratoglou for illegal coaching in the first place. But Serena continued to berate the umpire anyway, practically begging him to issue the third violation.

The sad part was that Serena ruined Osaka's moment with her antics, the same way she did to Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur years before. The champion was in tears as fans booed at the start of the trophy ceremony. With at least a little class, Serena chose not to air any grievances on the court telling fans to stop booing so Osaka could enjoy her moment. (As if there was any other choice.)

But it didn't matter. The celebration was tainted and the title will be too. Even in defeat, Serena Williams always makes it about Serena Williams.

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Serena Williams has another U.S. Open meltdown, clashing with umpire in shock loss

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After receiving a coaching violation in Saturday's U.S. Open final, Serena Williams shouted at the chair umpire and went on a wicked downward spiral that eventually led to a stunning game penalty which helped 20-year-old Naomi Osaka pull a massive upset, sending Serena to her second straight loss in a Grand Slam final and putting herself at the center of yet another tennis controversy at the biggest tennis tournament in the United States.

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Prior history of Williams' incidents with umpires

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Prior history of Williams' incidents with umpires

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NEW YORK (AP) - Serena Williams' dispute with the chair umpire during the 2018 U.S. Open final is the latest issue she's had with match officials at the Grand Slam tournament.

Williams thought back to others while arguing in her 6-2, 6-4 loss to Naomi Osaka on Saturday, saying on court at one point: "This is not fair. This has happened to me too many times."

When a reporter asked Williams whether her mind had flashed back to her infamous tirade over a foot fault in the final at Flushing Meadows nine years ago, she replied: "I think it's just instantly, just like, 'Oh, gosh, I don't want to go back to 2004.' Forget 2009, you know. It started way back then. So it's always something."

Here is a brief look back at those other U.S. Open episodes involving Williams, who has won six singles titles in New York:
THE WRONG CALL
Date: Sept. 7, 2004

Opponent: Jennifer Capriati

Round: Quarterfinals

Chair Umpire: Mariana Alves

Result: Capriati won 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

What happened: In the opening game of the third set, Williams hit a backhand that landed in - and was ruled in by a line judge - but Alves awarded the point to Capriati.

The fallout: This mistake was cited later when electronic line-calling was introduced to Grand Slam tennis.

What Williams said then: "I don't need to see the replay. I know my shots. Not only was it in, it wasn't even near the line. But I'm not making excuses. I didn't lose because of that. I probably should have closed her out in the second set."
THE FOOT FAULT
Opponent: Kim Clijsters

Round: Semifinals

Line judge: Shino Tsurubuchi

Result: Clijsters won 6-4, 7-5.

What happened: With Williams serving at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set, she faulted on her first serve. On the second serve, Tsurubuchi called a foot fault, making it a double-fault - a call rarely, if ever, seen at that stage of any match, let alone a major semifinal. That made the score 15-40, putting Clijsters one point from victory. Williams went over and shouted and cursed at Tsurubuchi, pointing at her. The line judge went over to chair umpire Louise Engzell, who assessed a penalty point, because it was Williams' second code violation of the match (she broke her racket when the first set ended). That extra point for Clijsters ended the match.

The fallout: Williams was fined a record $82,500 and told she could be suspended from the U.S. Open and her fine doubled if she had another "major offense" at any Grand Slam tournament over the next two years.

What Williams said then: "I've never been in a fight in my whole life, so I don't know why she would have felt threatened."
THE HINDRANCE CALL
Date: Sept. 11, 2011

Opponent: Sam Stosur

Round: Final

Chair umpire: Eva Asderaki

Result: Stosur won 6-2, 6-3

What happened: Facing a break point at the start of the second set, Williams hit a forehand that she celebrated with a familiar cry of "Come on!" But she shouted as Stosur was still reaching for a backhand. Asderaki ruled the point wasn't over and so awarded it to Stosur, saying Williams hindered her opponent's ability to complete the exchange. Williams got broken in that game. She directed a series of insults at Asderaki, who issued a code violation for verbal abuse.

The fallout: Williams was fined $2,000 by the U.S. Open (she won $1.4 million at the tournament). But the Grand Slam committee ruled that what she did "did not rise to the level of a major offense" and so she didn't face the additional disciplinary action that she could have been subject to after what happened in 2009.

What Williams said then: "You're a hater, and you're just unattractive inside," to Asderaki.
MORE: Naomi Osaka's popularity in Japan ahead of Tokyo Olympics
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Serena Williams' history of U.S. Open episodes with umpires, lineswoman

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NEW YORK (AP) - Serena Williams' dispute with the chair umpire during the 2018 U.S. Open final is the latest issue she's had with match officials at the Grand Slam tournament. Williams thought back to others while arguing in her 6-2, 6-4 loss to Naomi Osaka on Saturday, saying on court at one point: "This is not fair.

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Information about trans regulations (and lack thereof)

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Information about trans regulations (and lack thereof)

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Sports stars weigh in on row over transgender athletes

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Campaigners divided over whether trans women have an unfair advantage in sport

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The world progresses at a rapid pace, but in sport it often stands still. Sometimes for decades. Sometimes for hundreds of years.

On Thursday, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews announced that it will admit women as members. The 260-year-old institution sent out more than 2,400 ballot papers to its patrons, and the result was 85% for yes.

Golf is often regarded as being out of step in a modern society that dances to an ever-changing beat. In a world where women now box at the Olympics, England's female cricketers and rugby union players recently went full-time and hundreds of thousands of women play golf both recreationally and professionally, the sport retains many of its traditions, archaic rules and inequality.

It is not alone.

Here we look at six sports in which differences between men and women remain, and examine why those distinctions continue.

Gymnastics: Showing off the female's grace and flexibility and the male's power and strength

Boys and girls will learn the basics, such as handstands and forward rolls, together but once they start showing potential, which is usually about the age of five, they will be separated by gender.

"Predominantly it's the same sport," says Scott Hann, coach of Commonwealth all-around champion Max Whitlock. "A somersault is a somersault and, in terms of technique and skills, they are very similar."

But male and female gymnasts share only two common events - the vault and floor (only women perform on the floor to music).

Why? Each event is designed to show off the gender's natural qualities. An opportunity for the flexible and graceful sequined-wearing female to sparkle and the biceps-bulging male to test his strength and power. Peacocking for both sexes, just through different means.

While women compete in four apparatus (vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor), men have six events (floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar).

"There have been no calls for women to do more," says Hann. "There have been a few suggestions to make the male floor routine to music, but there has been resistance as it would take the masculinity out of it.

"Female apparatus focus more on endurance, flexibility and legs. In the apparatus where they have to use their arms, like the uneven bars, they're usually hanging."

Athletics: No women's international decathlon competition of note 'for years'

The men's decathlon has been contested at every Olympics since 1912. But there is still no place at major championships for the women's event. Searching for details of the last women's decathlon competition to be held feels almost as energy-sapping as the event itself.

"This has been an official event for women for years, but it hasn't taken off," says BBC athletics statistician Mark Butler. "I can't remember the last time there was an international women's decathlon of significance."

Toni Minichiello, coach of Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill, says organisational difficulties - he refers to "bottle-necking" in the past in competitions with both men's and women's decathlon - and a lack of desire to expand from heptathlon's seven to decathlon's 10 events are reasons it is not popular.

"I wouldn't be a supporter of it, not at this stage, but I would certainly support adding another track event, maybe the 100m, and making it eight events over two days," says Minichiello.

Minichiello on the changes to consider
"The women hurdles are 2ft 9in while the men hurdle over 3ft 6in. Should the hurdles be higher? Are they favouring the shorter, faster flat sprinter? In the women's 400m hurdles, the barriers are so small they're insignificant, really. It's not a hurdling event. Elsewhere, the 1kg discus that the women throw, it's a bit pathetic because they are so much stronger than the implement."

"Every time women's decathlon has been raised by the International Association of Athletics Federations, there's been little support from athletes and organisers because of the logistics of putting it on. Budgeting and television also dictates a lot.

"If the event were to become, say, a decathlon next year, you would see a mass exodus and a new fraternity of athletes would appear. I certainly don't think Jess would attempt it."

Lacrosse: A no-contact rule which has remained unchanged for 124 years

When Dame Frances Dove returned from her voyage of America in 1890, the women's campaigner and headteacher of St Leonards School at St Andrews introduced lacrosse to her pupils, giving us the beginnings of the women's game.

Only stick contact was permitted, a rule still in place 124 years later, despite men being allowed full body and stick contact.

It was only this year that the sport's lawmakers agreed to unify the field size for men and women.

Lacrosse - the stick rule
The ball has to be seen above the side wall (the stringed net) of the stick for women as there is no body contact and stick work is more skilful. For men, the ball can be below the side wall of the stick as this deeper pocket allows the ball to remain in the stick when a player is body-checked.

Is there an appetite to allow women to have full body contact?

"In Australia, some women players suggested the women's game be full body and stick contact but did not pursue this after playing a game in the men's competition," says Janet Jackson, chair of women's rules for governing body the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL).

Bobsleigh: Do women have the power-to-weight ratio to push a four-man bobsleigh?

Men first began competing in the four-man bobsleigh at the 1924 Winter Olympics. The wait continues for women bobsledders.

Some have argued a woman's lower power-to-weight ratio, which results in a slower push start, is a hindrance, but former world champion Nicola Minichiello has a different opinion.

"It could help prolong their careers because, with four in the team, that's less physical push exertion on the body," she says.

Women's bobsleigh is in its infancy - the two-woman bobsleigh entered the Winter Olympics in 2002 - and its growth continues.

This week the governing body, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (FIBT), agreed to allow four-woman bobsleigh demonstration races at this season's US trials, North America Cup races and the World Championships.

"It's too soon to be included at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but I expect by 2022 we will have equality," adds Minichiello.

Swimming: 'Allowing women to swim 1500m freestyle would add excitement for everyone'

Prior to 1968, when women were first allowed to compete in the 800m Olympic freestyle, the female of the species was regarded as too delicate to swim over long distances.

These days, the men's and women's Olympic schedule contains 17 events, with the only difference being men swim 1500m while women compete over 800m.

Sports writer David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance,insists there is "no good physical reason" why women can't compete over 1500m at the Olympics.

The women's 1500m freestyle is held at the World and European Championships, but the best long-distance female swimmers rarely compete. Why train for a non-Olympic event?

Fina, the sport's governing body, has looked at ensuring men and women race in the same events, but there is said to be reluctance from female athletes to lose the 800m as it would likely ruin their prospects over the shorter sprint events.

"In running events, the typical average difference between top men and top women is about 11% no matter the distance, from 100m to 10,000m. In long-distance swimming it closes to 6%," says Epstein. "There are women who would do very well in long swimming races."

Cycling: Is the sport's governing body missing a huge opportunity?

For female cyclists, the roads on which they race aren't paved with gold.

Female riders want equality in pay (there's no minimum wage for professional female road cyclists), equality in prize money and equality in racing (women can race up to 140km a day on the road, while men are allowed to ride 280km).

Olympic silver medallist Emma Pooley and world road race champion Marianne Vos have set up the Tour Entier, a campaign for a women's race at the most prestigious event of them all, the Tour de France.

"Not having some of these sporting events for women is just inertia from a time when it was believed women weren't sturdy enough for serious training and competition," says Epstein.

Former Olympic champion Nicole Cooke's retirement speech
"At the age of 12 one is unaware of the problems ahead. One expects there to be an infrastructure for both boys and girls to develop and demonstrate their talents; to nurture them. One does not expect that nothing is available if you are a girl or that worse still, girls will be specifically excluded, not allowed to compete. It is somewhat of a handicap trying to demonstrate just how good you are on a bike when you are not allowed to ride."

"In 1967, when Kathrine Swizer was the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon, critics told her her uterus would collapse if she ran too much.

"There is no doubt that there are important physical differences between men and women. They range from men's denser bones [which can support more muscle], taller stature, longer proportional limbs, to more oxygen-carrying red-blood cells.

"That, of course, is why we separate men and women for the purposes of competition. But the short answer is: there's no good reason that women don't have the events that men do."

Other sports where the sexes differ
Tennis: While men play five sets at Grand Slams, women can only compete over three sets.
Shooting: Women don't compete in the rapid fire or 50m pistol, nor at Olympic level in the double trap or 50m rifle prone.

Diving: Women take five dives, while men take six.
There are more weight divisions in Olympic men's boxing, wrestling and weightlifting than in the women's side of the sport.

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Is sport sexist? Six sports where men & women are still set apart

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The world progresses at a rapid pace, but in sport it often stands still. Sometimes for decades. Sometimes for hundreds of years. On Thursday, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews announced that it will admit women as members.

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'Why do I have to face a different standard than men?' Serena Williams defends THAT controversial reaction to US Open umpire - but admits she wishes she had handled it differently

Serena, 37, lost in the US Open finals to opponent Naomi Osaka last year

The match was controversial after a series of penalties made by the umpire

People criticized Serena for yelling at the umpire and smashing her racket

But Serena defended her frustrations from the bad call made by the umpire

The tennis star admitted, though, she wished she handled her anger differently

'It would be impossible not to wish I didn't handle a lot of situations differently,' she said in an interview

Serena Williams made headlines last year after she lost her temper during the US Open finals and smashed her racket, only for opponent Naomi Osaka to end up winning the match.

Her smashed racket was in response to an argument Serena had with the chair umpire of the match who believed her coach, Patrick Mouratogloum, was coaching her from the sidelines. Serena denied the accusation but still was penalized.

When speaking with Business of Fashion in a new interview, the 37-year-old tennis player was asked if she experienced regrets for what happened during the match.

'That's a really loaded question,' Serena told the publication. 'Do I feel regret for being penalized for something which has never happened in the history of tennis and I didn't use one single curse word? And what, do I feel regret over that?'

The tennis match divided the world as people argued if each code violation - one for coaching, one for racket abuse, and one as a game penalty - was justified based on the situation.

During the match, Serena said to chair umpire Carlos Ramos: 'There are men out here who do a lot worse than me, but because I'm a woman, you are going to take this away from me? That is not right.'

Although Serena stood by her issues with how chair umpire treated her during the match, she was disappointed in her reaction to the situation.

'For me, being a perfectionist and being a professional, it would be impossible not to wish I didn't handle a lot of situations differently, even that particular situation. So, absolutely,' Serena said.

Her confession comes as the match sparked a debate about if men and women were treated differently in tennis.

ESPN conducted a survey after the tennis match to see if it was true that men were treated more lightly when it came to violating the rules than women.

In their survey, the publication analyzed 200 sets played during the US Open.

'In the 200 sets of tennis we analyzed, Williams was the only player to receive an official penalty, which is more eye-opening when you consider how much more coaching we saw in the men's matches we watched,' ESPN wrote.

The publication found 20 incidents of coaching for the men versus eight incidents of coaching for the women during the matches. None of the men received penalties, and Serena, as everyone knows, was notably penalized.

Besides issues with the coaching call, Serena also referenced the problem with people being upset by her anger during the match when speaking with Business of Fashion.

She brought up a recent survey about women in the workplace, saying: 'A lot of women said they feel they have to manage their emotions because they're called "too emotional" or they're called something else just because we face different challenges than men face.

'So, I always think about that. Why do I have to face a different standard than the man?'

Serena is used to the public scrutiny, as she has been notably criticized for her reactions and the outfits she wears on the tennis court. But 23-time Grand Slam singles champion refuses to let their words affect her.

'It's part of life, you know,' she said.

'If someone's not scrutinizing you or talking about you, then you're not doing something right. If everyone's praising you and everything's perfect, then it's not the real world.

'People are going to scrutinize you no matter what. They'll find something wrong with you even if you're not doing anything wrong. And I don't let that affect me anymore. I think in the past I did.'

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Serena Williams defends her reaction to umpire in US Open match

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Serena, 37, lost in the US Open finals to opponent Naomi Osaka last year The match was controversial after a series of penalties made by the umpire People criticized Serena for yelling at the umpire and smashing her racket But Serena defended her frustrations from the bad call made by

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Defense of Williams's for race and gender

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Defense of Williams's for race and gender

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By Vanessa K. De Luca | Special To The Washington Post

Imagine being blamed for defending your integrity. Then understand that being attacked for speaking up is part of daily life for black women. See April Ryan, Maxine Waters, Kamala Harris, Susan Rice and Michelle Obama for a few examples of how black women have been admonished for their public statements. Somehow it seems to happen when we challenge male authority.

It has happened before to Serena Williams, in collisions with tennis' ruling organizations, but never as dramatically as in the women's final of the U.S. Open on Saturday.

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I had a bad feeling from the moment that Williams walked over to chair umpire Carlos Ramos during the second set of her match against Naomi Osaka, defending herself against his accusation that she was being guided by coach Patrick Mouratoglou from a courtside box. This would be a turning point in the match, I sensed, and not a good one for Williams.

Ramos did not openly state that Williams was cheating, but the implication of the umpire's decision left little room for doubt that he believed she was trying to gain an unfair advantage. Williams insisted, "I'm telling you I don't cheat to win, I'd rather lose, and I'm just letting you know." The crowd's effusive applause after the exchange made clear that the spectators thought she was in the right.

Yet, instead of warning Mouratoglou, Ramos had penalized Williams - a professional athlete with 23 Grand Slam singles titles, and therefore well versed in tennis rules and regulations - for her male coach's faux pas. Mouratoglou later admitted that he had been gesturing to Williams and was mystified that a common practice among coaches at tennis tournaments was suddenly being punished. Not only did Williams have to bear the brunt of the umpire's decision, but she also had to accept that it was a violation not of her doing.

And it was a turning point. Distressed and frustrated, Williams clearly lost her concentration. She broke her racket after badly misplaying a shot - and was penalized for it, the only justified ruling against her in what turned out to be a fateful trio. With two violations, she was assessed a one-point penalty, in a match where every point was vital.

During a break, Williams was still waiting for Ramos to acknowledge that she had not cheated: "You're attacking my character. Yes you are. You owe me an apology." She did not want her integrity to be tainted by a man's false characterization. Ramos could have defused the situation simply by saying that he understood her point - and then warning her that if she continued to speak, he would penalize her for a third time.

Instead, he let Williams go on, until she made the apparently unforgivable point that Ramos was a "thief" for stealing a point from her. No one listening would seriously believe that Williams was literally accusing him of theft, yet at that instant Ramos - defending his integrity - assessed a third violation. That automatically meant a one-game penalty against Williams, a disaster in a match where she was trying to come back from dropping the first set. Losing the second set meant losing the match, and she did.

Some of the media descriptions of Williams' actions on the court as a "furious rant," "an outburst," a "shocking tirade" and a "meltdown" only support the stereotyping and unconscious bias that permeate our culture, eager to characterize black women as angry and women in general as incapable of controlling our emotions.

"I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality and for all kinds of stuff," Williams told reporters after the match, noting of Ramos that "he's never taken a game from a man because they said 'thief.' For me, it blows my mind. But I'm going to continue to fight for women."

She showed this with her warm embrace of winner Osaka during the awards ceremony. Osaka, the 20-year-old daughter of a Haitian father and Japanese mother, was in tears after what must have been an overwhelming experience in winning her first Grand Slam title.

The victory was a hollow one, alas, forever tainted by the same old sexist, misogynistic tropes that women, and black women in particular, have been dealing with for centuries. Osaka says she grew up idolizingWilliams. And well she should have, not just for the way Williams has played the game but also for what she has represented throughout her career. Thanks to Williams, the path that Osaka follows in tennis and in life may be a little less difficult, but there is plenty of work left to be done.

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De Luca is a media consultant and the former editor in chief of Essence magazine.

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Opinion: Serena Williams was blamed for defending herself; that's nothing new for black women

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By Vanessa K. De Luca | Special To The Washington Post Imagine being blamed for defending your integrity. Then understand that being attacked for speaking up is part of daily life for black women. See April Ryan, Maxine Waters, Kamala Harris, Susan Rice and Michelle Obama for a few examples of how black women have been admonished for their public statements.