INEQUALITY: This year’s US Open shines a spotlight on the inequality that resides on the tennis courts.
By Guinivere Kimber, Staff Writer
Hot, humid, and brewing with inequality; three things that accurately describe the 2018 US Open. Of course, no one expected the last one on the list. Tennis boasts a reputation as ‘the sport’ when it comes to gender equality, rightfully so in some ways, although this year’s Grand Slam in New York City poked some major holes in that reputation.
For the first time in US Open history, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) implemented an Extreme Heat Policy, allowing its male players to take a ten minute break between sets three and four, and its female players between sets two and three. During the tournament, temperatures rose as high as 96°F with humidity levels soaring to 70%, making the temperature really feel like 105°F on the grounds and around 120°F on the brutal hard courts. Over 800,000 dedicated tennis fans flocked to the Billie Jean National Tennis Center in Queens to see their favorite athletes battle it out on the blue and green, few realizing just how different this year would be. Within the first round, five male players retired due to “heat-related issues,” including former world number eight, Mikhail Youzhny, who sadly ended his last Grand Slam, withdrawing due to heat exhaustion. One of the fittest players on the tour, Novak Djokovic, seemed to struggle in his match against Márton Fucsovics on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court, where the roof cannot be closed out of fairness to players on the outer courts. However, after taking the ten minute break, Djokovic recovered to win the match.
These newly enacted breaks allow players to go back to the locker room and change clothes, take a quick shower, or grab a snack. In her first round match, Alizé Cornet took a ten minute break, where she changed her clothes and then came back on to the court to continue the match. Just before play, Cornet realized she had put her shirt on backwards with her sponsor’s logo facing the wrong way. So, Cornet discreetly stepped back from the baseline, deliberately turned away from live-broadcasting cameras, and adjusted her shirt as quickly as she could, briefly revealing a black and red sports bra as she did so. Although the switch only took about ten seconds, it was ten seconds too long and noticed by the chair umpire Christian Rask, who then issued Cornet a warning. Raising her hands in confusion as to what she did wrong, Cornet stepped back up to the baseline and continued play.
When spectators at both Flushing Meadows and at home learned what had happened, they took to social media, jumping to Cornet’s defense. They criticized the “ridiculous rule disparity” and the unsportsmanlike conduct on the part of the chair umpire, many pointing out that male tennis players are allowed to change their shirts on the court, often leaving them off for much longer than ten seconds. A perfect example of this rule inequality between male and female players is Novak Djokovic’s quarter-final match against John Millman. The two men played the best they could under the ruthless heat and humidity, both soon soaking through their clothes with sweat. The heat got to the point where Millman couldn’t even get the tennis balls out of his pocket when it was his serve, forcing him to ask Djokovic if he would be amenable to a break at two games all in the second set, an incredibly unusual event. Djokovic was willing, and while Millman went back to the locker room to change his entire outfit, Djokovic stayed out on the court, changing only his shirt. However, he didn’t change quickly or discreetly like Alizé Cornet did. In fact, the manner in which Djokovic changed was quite the opposite. He took his shirt off even before Millman had left the court and kept it off for the entirety of the break, leaning back with his hands behind his head, bare chest being broadcasted to millions of viewers. Djokovic even spoke with the chair umpire while he shirtless-ly waited for Millman’s return, never receiving a warning.
In response to the backlash, the USTA expressed it’s regret of Cornet’s code violation and released a statement that it had “clarified the policy to ensure this will not happen moving forward.” “All players can change their shirts when sitting in the player chair,” the statement said. “This is not considered a Code Violation.” The statement also explained that female players may “change their shirts in a more private location close to the court, when available.” The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) said the code violation was “unfair” and that “the WTA has no rule against a change of attire on court,” in a statement made the same day, making it clear that Alizé Cornet “did nothing wrong.”
A match that received even more attention was the women’s final between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams. After losing the first set to the twenty-year-old, Williams began to grow frustrated, as did her coach Patrick Mouratoglou. So Mouratoglou did something that every coach does: he coached. Mouratoglou made a hand gesture from up in the box telling Williams to move up closer to the net. The gesture was low enough that Williams couldn’t see it from across the court, but the chair umpire, Carlos Ramos, did catch it, thus issuing Williams a warning. “I don’t cheat to win, I’d rather lose,” said Williams after the warning was given. Later in the second set, Serena was still losing and she threw down her racket in anger, which is a known code violation in tennis. For this, Ramos gave Williams a point penalty, meaning Osaka would start the next game 15-0. After losing that game as well, Williams angrily called Ramos a “thief” for stealing her point. With a warning and point penalty already issued, Ramos then called verbal abuse and issued Williams a game penalty, taking the match to the final set. In response, Williams called out the referees, accusing Ramos of a sexist double standard. “There are men out here that do a lot worse but because I’m a woman… you’re going to take this away from me?” questioned Williams. Williams isn’t wrong, male players do use much worse language than ‘thief’ when berating the chair umpires, often never receiving a punishment like an entire game penalty, much less in the final of a Grand Slam. John McEnroe, a retired male tennis player once ranked world Number One, is notorious for his on-court tantrums and yelling matches with chair umpires and linesmen. The total amount he was fined for code violations in his entire career was $69,500. Williams was fined $17,000 for the one match.
How’s that reputation holding up now?