theguardian | The game’s top umpires are considering forming a union because they
believe Carlos Ramos was “hung out to dry” by the authorities during and
after the US Open women’s final despite upholding the rules in sanctioning Serena Williams.
Many officials were also left angry with the fact that the
International Tennis Federation took nearly 48 hours to defend Ramos, on
Monday afternoon, by which time the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)
and United States Tennis
Association (USTA) had supported Williams’s claims of sexism after she
was given a game penalty for her behaviour during her defeat by Naomi
Osaka.
Umpires are not allowed to speak out publicly under the terms of
their contracts, and are employed by grand slams and men’s and women’s
tours, which means many are reluctant to say anything for fear of losing
their jobs. However, one senior figure told the Guardian that privately
there was widespread concern about how the USTA and WTA had rushed to
support Williams – which had led to vitriol and abuse on social media
for Ramos.
“There is a lot of unhappiness in the umpiring community because no
one is standing up for officials,” the senior figure told the Guardian.
“Umpires keep asking: ‘What if it was me in that chair on Saturday?’
There is a widespread feeling that Carlos was hung out to dry for nearly
48 hours and that no one is standing up for officials.”
In the absence of any official support for Ramos until Monday, it was
left to two former senior umpires, Mike Morrissey and Richard Ings, to
defend the Portuguese official. “I have had lots of messages saying this
is a joke,” said one source. “There is a lot of anger out there.”
