ZADAR, Croatia (AP) – Serena Williams isn’t getting much support from the men on the United States’ Davis Cup team over her insinuation that sexism played a role in the code violations she received during the U.S. Open final.
Then again, Steve Johnson, Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison are trying their best to stay out of the debate since Carlos Ramos, the chair umpire who penalized Williams, is also handling their best-of-five semifinal series against Croatia this weekend.
U.S. captain Jim Courier tells The Associated Press “it’s been polarized and in some ways politicized. But we have no doubt that Carlos was just enforcing the rules as he sees them.”
USTA president and CEO Katrina Adams was overheard apologizing to Ramos on the sidelines of Thursday’s draw ceremony.
Williams was given three code violations by Ramos in the straight-set loss to Naomi Osaka on Saturday, and Williams and critics inside and outside of tennis argued that she wasn’t treated the same as some male players.
Johnson says “I don’t want this to come out the wrong way, but he enforced rules that have been enforced on me over the years.”
—
More AP tennis coverage: https://www.apnews.com/tag/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports