“Serena Williams was wrong, somebody has to say it”: When Stephen A. Smith slammed American for controversial behavior vs Naomi Osaka in US Open final

Serena Williams has cemented her legacy as one of the very best to ever play the sport with her numerous accomplishments. However, her two-decade long career featured a few controversial moments. One such incident happened during the US Open 2018 final, which led to noted sports analyst and media personality Stephen A. Smith calling her out for her dramatics.

Williams won her 23rd Major title at the Australian Open 2017, setting a new Open Era record by surpassing Steffi Graf’s count of 22 trophies. She would stun the world by revealing that she won the title while pregnant, and took the remainder of the year off following her triumph in Melbourne.

Williams felt as if she still had some unfinished business, and returned to the tour in 2018. One of her goals was to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Major titles. She got her first crack at the same at Wimbledon that year but fell to Angelique Kerber in the final. She had another opportunity a few months later at the US Open.

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Williams faced rising star Naomi Osaka in the summit clash, who was contesting her maiden Major final. The match unfolded in a way that no one expected, for multiple reasons. Osaka pulled off a massive upset with a 6-2, 6-4 win, though her triumph was overshadowed by Williams' beef with chair umpire Carlos Ramos.

Williams was given three code violations by Ramos. The first was for coaching, with the subsequent penalties being for racket abuse followed by verbal abuse. Those cost her a point and then a game. The American felt that she was being unfairly targeted and got into a spat with Ramos, billing him as a "thief" and a "liar".

The umpire refused to budge, and Williams was unable to mount one of her famous comebacks, thus missing out on the title. The discourse surrounding her behavior in the final lasted for quite some time. Smith clearly wasn't impressed with her antics and opined that she was in the wrong while hosting ESPN's First Take.

"Serena Williams was wrong. Somebody has to say it, so I will," Smith said.

Osaka kept her composure during this fiasco. However, her moment of joy was further disrupted when the crowd also went against her during the trophy presentation, though Williams supported her.

Serena Williams turned the crowd's boos into cheers for Naomi Osaka

The fans at the US Open obviously cheer the loudest for players from their own country. This was also the case during the 2018 final between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka.

When Williams was arguing with the chair umpire, the crowd roared in support for her. However, they took it a step further when they started booing Osaka during the trophy ceremony, who was reduced to tears.

Williams stood up for Osaka, chastising the crowd in her speech for taking out their frustration on the youngster. Despite the controversial final, there was no bad blood between them after that and they always spoke highly of each other.

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About the author

Rohit

Rohit is a journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in covering tennis. Having been with the company for three years, he has proven himself as a formidable force in the field. With a Master's degree in law, Rohit brings his analytical and research skills to the forefront as a journalist. He stays on top of the game by using social media platforms and never misses a match for on-court insights. He values giving credit where it's due, keeping his reporting fair and accurate.

At the outset of his career, Rohit found his niche in writing previews and SEO pieces and it's this expertise that continues to define his role at Sportskeeda. He is particularly proud of one article that garnered an impressive 750k views and surpassed his "wildest dreams." Rohit is not particularly fond of (GOAT) debates and it is one of the reasons why he left the legal world behind. He prefers to view players in "tiers," where they're all esteemed to an extent. However, if pressed to name favorites, he would choose Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters' journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of tennis has been his greatest source of inspiration.

When he isn't busy making spot-on predictions about match outcomes, Rohit likes reading, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and comics. As an X-Men fanatic, he's also passionate about board games and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. And don't be surprised if you catch him silently wishing to the tennis gods for the removal of ad scoring from doubles.

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