More Than Just a "Meltdown"

Serena Williams competes in the U.S. Open where she was defeated by Naomi Osaka. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

One of the most talked about topics in the past few weeks happens to be part of a marginalized group, intersected with a second, equally- marginalized group. When you take black and you take female - separately - there will always be scrutiny. Once you intertwine the two and have a black female, the world doesn’t know how to act. Add being a professional athlete- nay, one of THE BEST professional athletes into the mix, you have a media frenzy.

All eyes are on Serena and her “meltdown”.

Statistically the Best

Forget what everyone is saying about her character right now. What do the facts present?

According to ESPN the tennis star has

• 72 singles titles

• 23 doubles titles

• A career overall of 801 wins to 136 losses

Williams is also one of four players to ever earn a Career Golden Slam.

All in all....she’s good. REALLY good.

Talent Doesn’t Get [Serena] a Pass

Williams has long endured discrimination within her sport. According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Williams has been randomly tested five times in 2018, the same number of times as only two other tennis players. (This number does not include additional random testing done by other organizations.)

After a random testing one day, Williams had enough, claiming discrimination.

Besides drug testing, she’s also been targeted because of her choice in competition clothing, when they banned her bodysuit. The bodysuit she wore for health reasons. Instead, she wore a tutu.

Serena Williams competes in tutu after cat suit gets banned. (Credit: Yahoo)

Men vs women

Serena wasn’t the first athlete to scrutinize an umpire during a match.

Men who have had temper tantrums toward umpires:

• John McEnroe

• Jimmy Connors

• John Isner

• James Blake

• Andy Roddick

The consequences for the men? For some of them, nothing.

Need more examples of sexism in tennis?

Media’s Reaction

Serena had a “meltdown” while male athletes “argue their point”. Serena is “emotional” while male athletes “defend themselves”.

The media’s word choice when speaking about females, especially black females, is always degrading and far more harsh then when speaking about men.

Two Black Girls

The sexism and racism towards Serena’s reaction to being called a cheater, has completely overshadowed a big portion of the conversation we are missing. Two women who identify as minorities fighting for a title. A monumental moment. Williams was vying for her 24th tournament win, which according to Vox, would have tied her for “the most Grand Slam singles tournament wins in history.” Naomi Osaka was hoping to be the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam. Osaka is also black. What a vision...a sport that’s predominantly white seeing two black women vying for the most sought after title. Talk about the discrimination against Serena, but don't forget about the other big moment while doing so.