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    "Hachi"Anne Branigin
    9/09/18 2:07pm

    Many people are saying that Osaka would have beaten Williams in the 3rd set. That’s not the point.

    The point is that Williams’ entire career has been characterized by racism and sexism. PERIODT. Even her return to tennis has been subjected to the same bullshit. And her reaction was not a meltdown. What I heard was passion, fire, and restraint. Yes, restraint. At one point during the interaction she says “I have NEVER...” and she lowers her voice! Bitch let me tell you if some old ass dude from up high has the nerve to say some shit to me, you better believe my voice is gonna stay yelling.

    Serena Fucking Williams shouldn’t need to lower her voice on one of the world’s greatest stages. Why so many of you think that she needed to be more professional is, well pretty fucking stupid. This isn’t your Thursday morning staff meeting.

    And the emotional labor she put in on the podium and at the press conference? What more do yall want from her?

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      "Hachi""Hachi"
      9/09/18 2:07pm

      And please don’t link to that Deadspin article. Miss me with all the Serena hate. Yall couldn’t WAIT to say some shit about her. 

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      "Hachi""Hachi"
      9/09/18 2:10pm

      Also if you didn’t cry when Serena said “you owe me an apology” because you felt that in you, too then GTFOH.

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    HuskyBroAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 1:50pm

    I wanted to curse out that interviewer who went out of her way to ignore Osaka’s Haitian heritage until Osaka herself had to check the reporter.

    That should have been a glorious day for Osaka but fuckery wasn’t about to let her enjoy it. 

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      BrwnskngurlHuskyBro
      9/09/18 2:56pm

      Well, color me shocked Ōsaka corrected them. The whole playing as a Japanese first and taking her moms name is problematic for me, since she learned the sport from her Haitian Dad and in the US. I must learn more to appreciate those choices. But good on her if she corrected the reporter.

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      Anotherburnerbitesthedustin2018Brwnskngurl
      9/09/18 3:21pm

      Was done for practical purposes living in Japan. It is not uncommon. Imagine a Japanese girl living in Japan named Francois. Not even getting into the dark skinned yet

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    BrwnskngurlAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 2:49pm

    Thank you, Anne, for writing this necessary piece. And thank you for putting the “Haitian” first in your “Haitian-Japanese” description of Naomi.

    I do not feel like Naomi fully appreciated the moment for what it was. I feel like a stronger woman with a connection to both her sport and her gender would have been beaming that she beat her idol and recognize the double standard Serena endured and maybe just maybe speak on it. Perhaps it’s youth, or her lack of a connection to race or gender. I was disappointed she didn’t speak up both for herself AND for the moment. The mousiness with which Naomi approached the whole moment makes me think it may take her a while to fully grasp the intersection of tennis and gender. Time will tell.

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      Guy in Long BeachBrwnskngurl
      9/09/18 4:40pm

      It could partly be being raised by a Japanese mother.  Japanese people are taught to be more stoic, and more respecting of authority, than Americans.

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      chocolatechipcookiesforbreakfastgotbannedBrwnskngurl
      9/09/18 7:59pm

      I guess Naomi can decide for herself about what to speak about.

      She was being boooed. It was her match too, not only Serena’s.

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    The Intersectional Feminist part dosAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 6:12pm

    I am so, so tired of reading hot takes from people who have no idea what it’s like to face the amount of racism and sexism Serena Williams has faced in her career. Her outburst was about more than what was happening out there on the court; it was about the amount of disrespect she’s encountered as a black woman. When she said, “You owe me an apology,” I cried. I know exactly how she felt in that moment. There isn’t a black woman alive who doesn’t know what she felt in that moment. And please don’t @ me about THE RULES OF TENNIS. Many people have said that other players are coached during the game and have said worse to the umps. I’m tired of every time a black woman stands up for herself, she’s dismissed as throwing a tantrum, being childish, not being respectful, etc... I don’t know why y’all expect us to lie down and take a beating without retaliating, but I am tired of it. I am so disgusted. People like Serena have paved the way for players like Osaka. May she never have to deal with the amount of misogynoir that Serena has had to deal with. Finally, saying can the “hype” around Serena die? GTFO. Having 23 Grand Slam titles isn’t about hype. It’s about working twice as hard to half as much.

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      PaulMooneysTongueThe Intersectional Feminist part dos
      9/09/18 6:22pm

      All these folks using the “rules of tennis” excuse want to act like all the ills of the world disappear once someone gets to the level of supreme that Serena has achieved. As if her blackness disappeared.

      No it did not.

      If anything, folks are even saltier at that level because they have to contend with the fact that their racist/bigoted beliefs are unfounded and they have nothing left to use as an excuse to justify their evil.

      Irony is what I see cause half of these fools can’t even keep their new year’s resolutions let alone achieve 1/10th of Serena’s success. #Haters

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      pippen__aint_easyThe Intersectional Feminist part dos
      9/09/18 7:10pm

      There’s no question she has dealt with a lot, and there was certainly a long stretch when she was the most underappreciated great athlete in sports (thankfully, she’s starting to get her due these last few years). But what happened yesterday was not something that was done to her. I watched the whole match. The coaching call didn’t mean anything - it was a warning based on her coach’s behavior, not hers. She smashed her racket, and then berated the official at length when she already had two code violations. The umpire didn’t have it in for her, she just got frustrated with how she was playing, and how well Osaka was playing. Sure, male players have those emotional outbursts from time to time as well, but they also get penalized for it. Here’s the same umpire calling a code violation on Novak Djokovic for far less. She has been unfairly treated/viewed in the past, but that’s not what happened here. It’s not fair to call the umpire sexist/racist based on this (especially when you consider who her opponent was).

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    capeoAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 3:59pm

    I’m usually 100% behind Serena but this was a shit show of her own making. Every penalty was the right call. Her coach was illegally coaching and admitted as much (though it was obvious anyway). Breaking a racket and a rant like that, directly accusing the ump of cheating or ulterior motives, gets infractions. The only time she’s loses it like this is when she’s getting beat and this was part of that pattern. She made the whole thing about herself and ruined what should’ve been the highest moment of Osaka’s life.

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      llaalleellcapeo
      9/09/18 4:36pm

      I wasn’t phased by the first 2 calls, but the third one I found perplexing. It’s a grand slam final and a player is venting—and not even aggressively—after a bad run. It was annoying and Serena should have left it alone, but I don’t think it rose to the level of a code violation. Both Serena and Ramos had options and they chose the wrong ones.

      But totally agree that the real story should be how brilliant Osaka was. There are so few articles on just how focused and strong she was and what a professional match she played. After the first 3 games, my dad and I agreed that she was going to win.

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      raafaasaalcapeo
      9/09/18 7:33pm

      I’m also almost always 100% on Serena side and think she’s been unfairly treated (ex. Catsuit decision) but think this time it was the right call and feel totally weird being in the other side.

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    llaalleellAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 3:00pm

    This is spot on. I’m glad this is getting called out for what it is. That final “violation” was insane—and I say this as someone who hates on-court theatrics from anyone. I don’t want to romanticize Serena’s meltdown too much, because it was indeed a meltdown. But it’s an understandable and relatable one, especially for marginalized people, borne of unfairness, rage, and frustration, much of it having nothing to do with the match.

    It was an bad day for tennis and the U.S. Open, that’s for sure. The double standard about players’ on-court frustrations was gonna hit this point and the ugliness of it isn’t surprising. I don’t care what people think of Serena personally, but those calls were terrible and suspect.

    FWIW, a similar thing happened with Venus a few years ago. Same umpire. He was loudly criticized for it then so he was well on notice.

    http://www.tennis.com/photos-video/2016/05/dont-mess-venus-williams-refutes-chair-umpire-commanding-fashion/58786/

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      sdb68llaalleell
      9/09/18 7:44pm

      you lost me at “meltdown”. utter nonsense. she was assertive, she was angry (smashed her racket), but she was coherent and she stood her ground. then she carried on playing. “meltdown” suggests an emotional disintegration and a ceasing to function. nothing like that happened.

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      llaalleellsdb68
      9/09/18 7:54pm

      I agree. I don’t think the meltdown happened until after the third violation when she called in the tournament referee. What keeps getting left out is that she had at least two completely reasonable and amicable conversations with Ramos before that last exchange, which was tense but not extraordinary. But after that point, it was a meltdown--an understandable one, but a bona fide loss of control when she needed to refocus and get back into the match.

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    Hoodwill_huntingAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 3:03pm

    I think Serena is getting caught up in her own myth. I think it’s interesting to see a possible changing of the guard in tennis as Federer and Williams age out. She had a bad day and I’m sure had a regrettable reaction/defense. Hope she get’s that 24th Grand Slam and exits with grace and dignity. 

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    iculookinAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 1:50pm

    This was wonderful to read, thank you for this.

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    True DatAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 4:20pm

    Serena is the most successful and highest paid woman athlete EVER. And deservedly so. But she messed up yesterday and neither her, nor her fans, nor people with PC agendas seem able to admit that a great champion may have simply screwed up in the moment. And it also trivializes the very real discrimination she overcame as a young woman.

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      SheeshTheseNamesTrue Dat
      9/09/18 6:58pm

      The discrimination still exists and persists, so she didn't "overcome" anything. Talking about the reality of Black women in her position is not a "PC agenda," and only those of us who actually experience oppression get to decide whether it's "real" or not.

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    Guy in Long BeachAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 1:52pm

    “Had it not been for hubris of a chair ump”

    Serena exhibited no hubris?

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      LandOfSupposedGuy in Long Beach
      9/09/18 2:51pm

      If politely asking for an apology when you’re insulted is hubris then I guess she did.

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      "Hachi"Guy in Long Beach
      9/09/18 2:58pm

      and if she did, what it is? One of the world’s greatest athletes can’t have an ego? get the entire fuck up out of here with your bullshit ass bullshit. creating a burner just to come up in here with your dumb thoughts.

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