Dominic Thiem and Roger Federer once came under fire over their response to the French Open snubbing the Austrian in favor of Serena Williams. Whoopi Goldberg and other TV presenters did not take kindly to Williams being subjected to criticism over the controversial incident.
Williams had a disappointing run at the 2019 French Open, suffering a shock 6-2, 7-5 loss to Sofia Kenin in the third round of the Major. Unsurprisingly, reporters swarmed to the American’s post-match press conference to hear her comments on the defeat. However, in order to accommodate Williams, Thiem was asked to leave the press room while addressing the media after his third-round win.
Dominic Thiem was understandably annoyed by the incident, asserting that Serena Williams had showcased her “bad personality” with a move that the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would never dream of making. Federer validated the Austrian’s opinion by saying that he could empathize with Thiem’s frustration and arguing that the player who was still alive in the tournament should get priority.
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However, Whoopi Goldberg lashed out at Dominic Thiem for blaming Serena Williams for the fiasco. Speaking on 'The View,' Goldberg argued that while Thiem may be popular in the tennis community, the 23-time Grand Slam champion's loss was a more important talking point since she was a much bigger star.
"Listen, man, don’t nobody know who you are! You may be big in the tennis world, but this is a big deal that she was out this early. People want to know what’s happening, how she doing — and I don’t think she actually wanted to talk to anybody about losing. 'Oh yes, let’s talk about my loss so early in the French Open,' I don’t think that was her plan! Don’t blame her! Stop being a bonehead, don’t blame her," Goldberg said.
Similarly, Goldberg's fellow panelist, lawyer Sunny Hostin, criticized Roger Federer for not lending his support to the "queen," Serena Williams.
"I was surprised Roger Federer came out and also was defending Thiem’s position and saying this is unfair. He should know better. Serena is the queen," Hostin said.
Political strategist Ana Navarro also lambasted Dominic Thiem for lacking "self-awareness" about his popularity compared to Serena Williams. Meanwhile, political commentator Tara Setmayer was the only panelist to criticize the 23-Grand Slam champion by highlighting her history of acting like a "diva" after losses.
"I begged them to put me in the small room" - Serena Williams responded to Dominic Thiem's 'bad personality' accusation
Serena Williams addressed the controversy in her pre-tournament press conference at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. The American said that she had pleaded with the French Open organizers to let her address the reporters in the smaller press room and had even criticized them for being "rude" to Dominic Thiem.
"Yeah, I asked them to put me in the small room. I begged them to put me in the small room, and they didn't. I said, Listen, I can come back. I'm just going to go back. They're like, 'No, stay here.' They pulled him out. I was like, 'You guys are so rude to do that,' quote-unquote, that's what I said. The next day I had a bad personality. Literally that's what happened," Serena Williams said.
Having defended Thiem, Williams was surprised by the Austrian calling her out for having a "bad personality." However, the former World No. 1 disclosed that she had discussed the matter with Thiem and they had put the incident behind them.
"Actually stuck up for the guy, so, I don't understand how I got a bad personality for telling them what they did was wrong to him. But we spoke about it. I've always liked him. I still like him. He's a great, like, player. I mean, he's unbelievable," she added.
That year, Serena Williams reached the Wimbledon final before suffering a crushing 6-2, 6-2 loss to Simona Halep in the final. Meanwhile, Dominic Thiem crashed out of the grasscourt Major with a shock loss to Sam Querrey in the first round, just weeks after finishing as the runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the French Open.
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