By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, September 24, 2018
"That doesn't make sense," Serena said of her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou's admission.
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook
Serena Williams gave a thumbs down to coach Patrick Mouratoglou's admission he used hand signals to try to coach her during the US Open final.
Chair umpire Carlos Ramos hit Williams with a coaching violation warning after Mouratoglou was seen making a "move forward" gesture with both hands during the second set of Naomi Osaka's 6-2, 6-4 victory in the Flushing Meadows final.
Watch: Serena's Sexism Claim Sparks War of Words
The 23-time Grand Slam champion told Australian television show The Sunday Project, Mouratoglou's coaching confession makes no sense because, she says, the pair have never used hand signals.
“I just don’t understand what [Mouratoglou] was talking about because I asked him, you weren’t coaching, we don’t have signals, we’ve never had signals and he said he made a motion,” Williams told The Sunday Project. “So you said you made a motion, now you told people that you’re coaching me. That doesn’t make sense, why would you say that?”
Mouratoglou, who was captured by court-side cameras making a "move forward" gesture with both hands during the second set of the US Open final, told ESPN's Pam Shriver he did try to coach Williams, but said that's standard procedure for coaches in major finals.
"I'm honest. I was coaching," Mouratoglou told his ESPN colleague immediately after the final. "I don't think she looked at me, but like 100 percent of the coaches in 100 percent of the matches [coach].
"I was coaching, Sascha [Bajin] was coaching too. Toni Nadal is coaching every single point and he's never gave a single point."
US Open tournament referee Brian Earley fined Williams $10,000 for verbal abuse of chair umpire Ramos after the former world No. 1 berated the veteran chair umpire "a thief" who "stole" a point from her.
The 17th-seeded Williams was fined $4,000 for being warned for coaching, and $3,000 for smashing her racquet.
The $17,000 fine was deducted from the $1.85 million Williams earned as US Open runner-up.
The 2017 Australian Open champion charged Ramos with sexism after the match and said the fact she was docked a game "blows my mind."
"But I've seen other men call other umpires several things," Williams said. "I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality and for all kinds of stuff. For me to say 'thief' and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark. He's never taken a game from a man because they said 'thief'. For me it blows my mind. "
Williams said she's trying to put the entire incident behind and move forward.
"What I’m just trying to do most of all is to just recover from that,” Williams said.