Serena got it right – sort of…

The evidence speaks for itself. Serena was right when she told the world that women have been treated less favourably than men on the tennis court. They have. Her mistake was to use her position, her frustration, and her under performance to make this point. She would have been better off to accept the initial code violation after challenging it politely, and then let her tennis do the shouting. Serena could then use her considerable power to fight for women off the court. If doors won’t open, then it’s time to push.

Serena’s second, and almost bigger, mistake was to think that it was all about her. Did she not see the other woman? The young Naomi Osaka in her first grand slam final. Her idol is Serena. Her role model is Serena. Whatever happened to fighting for women? It was pitiful to watch Naomi unable to celebrate her awesome achievement. Ironically, Serena may have felt the game was stolen from her, but she stole the moment, the headlines and the joy of success from Naomi. Come on Serena you can do better than that.