Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams played in the 2018 US Open, one that will go down as one of the most infamous ones in tennis history.
The match had everything from sensational breakout play from Osaka to a complete meltdown from Serena Williams in a famous clash with umpire Carlos Ramos. The aftermath of that match was heavily covered by the US media in America as well as in media around the world. Speaking on the VS Voices podcast Naomi Osaka believes that if a male player did that it would not have been big news noting the double standards in tennis:
“Definitely if a male player did that it wouldn’t have been so
[widely] broadcasted. There’s actually been male players that have
done far worse, like literally last year and this year, and they don’t
get news reports at all. So, I’m not sure if it’s because Serena is Serena, or if people just wanted to write negative things.”
Osaka further explained that it was an unfortunate moment especially with the media coverage:
“I can’t say that if we were both male players the outcome would have been the same way. But I can say that people are very interested in Serena and whatever she does is going to get attention. And it was just unfortunate that it had to be that moment that caught a lot of people’s interest.”