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    PaulMooneysTongueAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 2:55pm

    Seems like the tennis circuit is trying to push Serena out, especially since she had her daughter. Too much like the corporate world. I don’t know jack about tennis but every time I read about Serena it’s more about fines and unscheduled drug tests than about her abilities. I smell some bs. 

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      Flamingo83 pt2PaulMooneysTongue
      9/09/18 3:01pm

      Too Black to make them money.

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      LolaCat5PaulMooneysTongue
      9/09/18 3:15pm

      “especially since she had her daughter.”

      You just said a mouthful. I truly believe that this happens to women in all sorts of professions. It happened to me in non-profit work, it happened to the woman at Jersey Mike’s and it’s happening to Serena in sports. Lucky for all of us, cameras are capturing it so we are all aware of her situation.

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    KalxAnne Branigin
    9/10/18 10:46am

    Anne, your articles have been infected with Trolls. Not sure who keeps ungraying these asswipes. 

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      Anne BraniginKalx
      9/10/18 10:48am

      Sigh. I’ve noticed. I know Serena brings them out of the woodwork, but apparently, there are still people willing to write emails defending George Zimmerman as well. 

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      KalxAnne Branigin
      9/10/18 10:54am

      *Double sigh

      Persevere sis!

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    BiturbowagonAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 2:15pm

    As I wrote in another thread:

    How have white male tennis players been treated in equivalent circumstances?

    Hmmmmmmm....

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      Bilious72Biturbowagon
      9/09/18 2:55pm

      Yes, it only takes a quick google search to find  the footage. I guess enforcing the rules is now on the ever growing list of “racist” ideas. 

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      hbhb321Biturbowagon
      9/09/18 2:59pm

      Does John McEnroe being defaulted from a major count?

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    pippen__aint_easyAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 3:18pm

    Jesus this is embarrassing. Day 2 of this and you guys are still buying that Serena was the victim here? I’m a big fan of Serena, but she has not been wronged here at all. The first code violation was for coaching - her coach admitted he did it and the cameras caught him doing it. No it’s not called all the time, but it was called here, and it was simply a warning - it cost Serena nothing (all the talk about “I have a daughter” and “I’m not a cheater” was just grandstanding - the chair ump never called her a cheater, he made a call on her coach, and it really wasn’t a big deal at all). The second call is automatic, 100%, always called - everyone who smashes their racket gets that call. Everyone. That cost her one point, which again, was not that big a deal. At this point she knew the next violation would be a game penalty, and she berated the umpire for a long time. She was screaming at him demanding he apologize and then called him a thief. She dared him to call it, he finally did, and then she cries like she’s the victim.

    She lost her cool because Osaka was clearly outplaying her. She was in the process of losing, the frustration got to her, she saw red, and went after the chair. Nearly ever great athlete has done that at some point. It doesn’t make her a bad person, but it also doesn’t make her a feminist martyr. McEnroe was disqualified from the Australian Open for multiple code violations (and he was winning the match at the time). There’s no discrimination story here, just an all-time great who had a bad day, was getting beat, and lost her temper. It happens.  Stop these embarrassing Serena stan posts.

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      The Intersectional Feminist part dospippen__aint_easy
      9/09/18 6:28pm

      Go the fuck away. You just don’t get it. Go back to Deadspin.

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      Sarah Messica Porkerpippen__aint_easy
      9/09/18 8:46pm

      “I’m a big fan of Serena”

      There’s not a person on earth who believes that.

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    TPGAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 2:15pm

    I’m still so angry about this whole thing. 

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      andrebrockTPG
      9/09/18 2:33pm

      Probably because you don’t understand the rules of tennis. I’ve seen that ref do much the same thing to male players and you’d have seen it too if you actually watched tennis and didn’t just fire off the handle about things you know little about.

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      MaryinOhioandrebrock
      9/09/18 2:44pm

      I think we can all agree that Ramos was performing his job and had every right to call each of those violations. But if you can’t see that these penalties are being called in a disparate manner maybe you don’t watch as much tennis as you claim. I am amazed that Serena would even go to the US Open at this point. She is one of the best players ever and she gets treated like less than dirt almost every time she plays there. 

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    BadOmbreAnne Branigin
    9/10/18 1:04am

    I see that this has over 200 comments, so I assume this got cross-posted and is full of crypto-racists wellactually-ing the damned thing, so...not interested, because they ruin everything.

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      The Intersectional Feminist part dosBadOmbre
      9/10/18 8:24am

      You are 100% correct. 

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      Nina LemoneBadOmbre
      9/10/18 9:43am

      Ain't nothing crypto about these racists.

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    MisterPigginsAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 9:38pm

    Somebody invited the Deadspin greys over, look at all the new assholes.

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      SessoMatto (Yes, I'm really fun at parties.)MisterPiggins
      9/09/18 11:59pm

      How are they getting ungreyed, tho? I thought that was the point of the greys? 

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      MisterPigginsSessoMatto (Yes, I'm really fun at parties.)
      9/10/18 2:06am

      Same as anybody else is elevated I reckon. *shrug* People starrin’ shit.

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    MikePenceNoneTheRicherNowVPAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 6:21pm

    What’s the fuckin point of this fine?

    I’m still sad about how it turned out.. maybe Serena should have let the coaching warning go, maybe she shouldn't have broken her racquet. But the game penalty was ridiculous. The umpire could have and should have just ignored her.

    Btw I’m kinda tired of seeing Serenas coach’s greasy mug everywhere, even in one of her ads.

    Congrats to Osaka.

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      Nina LemoneMikePenceNoneTheRicherNowVP
      9/10/18 10:08am

      Part of me wonders if the chair umpires all got a stern talking to after Lahyani’s little stunt with Kyrgios and were told to be no-nonsense out of the fear of looking biased. And this was an inevitable result. If Mo’s in the chair, he might’ve given her a soft warning and told her to cool down a bit so he wouldn’t have to warn her. But since he fucked that up with Nick, maybe ALL umps are far more cautious with the player interaction.

      Tbh, I’m not even mad about her breaking thr racquet. She got it one swing. That’s some goddamn talent. Not even Grigor got such clean racquet breaks at the one match he effectively forfeited by breaking three racquets in a row (and he was actually told about the warnings so he knew what he was doing). Wasn’t that in a final? Wasn’t Mo in the chair for that one? I forget how much he was even fined for that.

      I’ve been avoiding the conversation on this. I was pissed with the how the match turned out but I was gonna be pleased with the outcome either way. I always thought this was Osaka’s tournament, so I’m very happy for her. Also, the US Open has always put so much pressure on Serena to win (see: Clijsters, Stosur, Vinci). The Aussie is where it’s at. Also too, Serena might qualify for the YEC with these two slam finals appearances.

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      Nina LemoneNina Lemone
      9/10/18 10:12am

      Yeah, the Istanbul final vs Baego Diego Schwartzman. Gotta do better, Dimi.

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    jystadAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 7:03pm

    Serena and by extension, her sister Venus, are the sole reason tennis is even a thing in the US anymore. This is a certified outrageous debacle, and while it makes me upset that Serena *had* to come out of her face in front of the cameras, I am *glad* that she did call this spade a very jacked up spade.

    That said, I am deeply saddened by the marring of Ms. Osaka’s victory by this incident. I am verklempt on how to feel about all of this because of all the feels I have for Serena, and how happy I am for Osaka. Emotional conundrum! 

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      Kahunajystad
      9/09/18 8:39pm

      Admit Serena acted like an a-hole and get on with your life, my friend. 

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      Dahfjwsagefjystad
      9/10/18 7:42am

      Serena and by extension, her sister Venus, are the sole reason tennis is even a thing in the US anymore.

      So? How is this even relevant? The ONLY reason you’d even bring this up is because you think the rules shouldn’t apply to them.

      And that’s clearly not something any sane person would say, so what are you actually trying to get at?

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    Not IAnne Branigin
    9/09/18 6:28pm

    I don’t watch tennis, so am interested in the actual state of penalties, men vs women. I know other sports regularly penalize male athletes for confrontations with referees (or otherwise acting outside guidelines).

    I am having trouble reconciling her coach admitting he was absolutely throwing signals with her claim never to ‘cheat’. Cheat may be an intentional exaggeration for sideline coaching, but it seems hard to understand her having having such a signal system and his throwing signs if she never looked at them.

    There might be a gender component in the choice to penalize. Serena’s outrage at the substance of the penalty when she clearly had a prohibited coaching signal system in place seems hard to believe, though.

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      Cyrils-cashmere-sweater-vestNot I
      9/10/18 11:46am

      Comparing penalty rates per incident is tricky because most players get their dig in and walk away. It’s usually when you keep arguing that you get penalized. That’s true in all sports. 

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      Not ICyrils-cashmere-sweater-vest
      9/10/18 2:33pm

      Well, escalation was certainly in her control. And I merely suggested comparing the initial incident rates, the incident she expressed such outrage at. Others have now made that comparison in other posts.

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