Serena Williams fined $17,000 at U.S. Open for altercation with umpire

Serena Williams has been fined a total of $17,000 for three separate violations that occurred during the U.S. Open women’s final on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

Chair umpire Carlos Ramos argued with Williams throughout the match after charging Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams’ coach, with instructing her from the stands. Coaching mid-game is technically against the rules, but routinely happens without incident. The charge escalated tensions between Ramos and Williams, leading to numerous verbal altercations before Williams broke her racket in anger.

The tournament referee’s association charged Williams $10,000 for “verbal abuse” of Ramos, $4,000 for the coaching warning and $3,000 for breaking her racket.

The penalty-laden finale was an unfortunate end to an amazing tournament, and took the limelight away from 20-year-old Naomi Osaka who broke down in tears after the match telling fans “I know everyone was cheering for her, I’m sorry it had to end like this. Thank you for watching the match.”

On Sunday night WTA CEO Steve Simon issued a statement, saying “The WTA believes that there should be no difference in the standards of tolerance provided to the emotions expressed by men vs. women and is committed to working with the sport to ensure that all players are treated the same. We do not believe that was done last night.”