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Poor Officiating Blamed for Serena Williams’ Infamous US Open Night by Chris Evert’s Ex-husband

Published 02/22/2024, 4:40 AM EST

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The US Open 2018 final is the one that has been written in the history books for a long time now. The match, which had all the twists and turns saw Serena Williams taking on Naomi Osaka. While the Japanese sensation landed the win, the match came under huge scrutiny after Williams had a war of words with the chair umpire. While she refused to take coaching tips from her coach, the umpire constantly blamed her for the same.

Reflecting on the incidents that unfolded that night, Chris Evert‘s ex-husband and former tennis player John Lloyd came ahead and made his feelings clear. While suggesting that things could have been dealt with in a better way, he claimed that the umpire created chaos.

Chris Evert’s ex-husband John Lloyd blames for referring behind Serena Williams’ 2018 US Open final sabotage

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Reflecting on Serena Williams’ 2018 US Open Final, John Lloyd questions the umpire’s decision to issue a code of conduct warning for coaching. In Lloyd’s perspective, while the umpire followed the rules, the confrontation with Serena created unnecessary chaos. He suggests that a quieter warning during the first changeover might have been a better approach to avoid disrupting the match.

Lloyd talked about the need to enforce rules without sparking controversy. He suggested that a more discreet intervention could have maintained the match’s integrity. Lloyd’s critique centers on the belief that a different strategy could have prevented the chaos that unfolded on tennis’s grand stage.

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“When she got in trouble and final with Osaka and he called a code of conduct warning as she was getting coaching in the stands and then Serena of course didn’t hear the fact. In that case as an example with the audience of a multi-million and everything else watching and people there and it ended up being a. And if he puts his head on the micro, when she came around the first change over and said, ‘Listen Serena, you’re looking at the guy that’s giving you instructions, it has to cut it out, or I’m going to enforce it.’ There, okay, by strictly the rules, he should have done it. But then, he created chaos in the match that I don’t think needed to happen,” said John Lloyd while talking about the incident that happened at the 2018 US Open final.

Thus, John Lloyd came ahead and talked about the incidents that unfolded at the US Open final back in 2018. While Serena Williams denied claims of receiving any coaching, the umpire suggested that she clearly received some tips. Llyoyd instead suggested that the matter could have been dealt with lightly.

However, after the win, her opponent Naomi Osaka shared her dissatisfaction despite winning her first-ever grand slam.

Naomi Osaka did not feel happy after winning her maiden slam

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It was Naomi Osaka’s first-ever grand slam win. Having followed Serena Williams all along the way, Naomi Osaka was a huge admirer of her and got the chance to play against her in the finals of the tournament. In a match where Osaka won in straight sets, she suggested that she did not feel nice after defeating her idol.

“I felt a little bit sad because I wasn’t really sure if [the crowd] were booing at me or if it wasn’t the outcome that they wanted,” said Osaka. “I also could sympathise because I’ve been a fan of Serena my whole life. And I knew how badly the crowd wanted her to win, I don’t know, I was just really emotional up there.” 

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Despite bagging her first-ever slam win, she did not feel happy about it and rather wanted things to go the other way around. Thus, crazy events unfolded on the night of the final of the 2018 US Open final. In a match where Osaka prevailed with a clear-cut win, she felt sad for defeating her idol.

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Written by:

Akshat Gaur

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Akshat Gaur is a Tennis Writer at EssentiallySports. His journey on our platform is a testament to his deep-rooted passion for the sport. With a commitment towards ethical journalism, Akshat demonstrates this aspect through his measured offerings.
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Edited by:

Ananya Giri