Wow, just wow. Serena Williams lost the women's final at the U.S. Open on Saturday to 20-year-old Japanese player Naomi Osaka but that's not the headline. The headline is that Serena got pissed at the chair umpire, demanded what she considered to be respect from ump Carlos Ramos, she continued to press him on the issue, she ended up getting a full game penalty which eventually led to her loss.

Here's how it went down:
1) The chair umpire gave Serena a warning when her coach Patrick Mouratoglou appeared to be coaching her from the box.

2) Serena pushed back on the warning, saying "I don't cheat to win; I'd rather lose." She said Ramos needed to announce to the audience that she hadn't received coaching and that she doesn't cheat. He refused.

3) Serena lost a crucial point and smashed her racquet.


4) The chair ump gave her a point penalty for the unsportsman-like behavior.

5) Serena berated the umpire, calling his decision sexist, saying men do much worse and aren't penalized.

6) Serena continued her sideline debate with Ramos and when it escalated -- after she said he was a "thief" for "stealing a point from her," Ramos gave her a game penalty, practically unheard of in professional tennis, particularly in a Grand Slam final.


7) The crowd was booing Ramos and even Serena's victorious opponent Naomi Osaka and when Osaka won her match point, Serena was gracious and hugged her.


8) During the prize presentation, Serena implored fans to stop booing and to let Osaka have her moment; still Osaka basically apologized for winning in a teary-eyed speech.


Soooo many questions and debates to be had here -- was the umpire wrong even to give a warning for what he considered to be "coaching," when almost every tennis expert who's weighed in on this says its a regular occurrence that almost always goes un-remarked by umpires? Should Serena have broken her racquet when she Osaka broke her serve in a crucial game of the second set? She Serena have stopped engaging with the umpire after the point penalty and just continued the match and let it go? Should the chair ump have continued to engage or should he have removed himself as an influence over the match and encouraged Serena to calm down and continue, warning her first that a game penalty could be coming if she continued? Should he have apologized after the first "coaching" warning? It's all so subjective!

In the end, Serena was fined $17,000 for the code violation. Check this out, though, French player Benoit Paire got a point penalty and a $16,000 fine just over a month ago and watch how relatively uninvolved the chair umpire is during the player's temper tantrum ...


The overwhelming response from the pros? They think Serena was in the right, even legend Billie Jean King:






What do YOU think?