Umpire Carlos Ramos will not officiate any matches involving Serena or Venus Williams at this year’s US Open. The Portuguese official docked a game off Serena Williams during last year’s final at Flushing Meadows against Naomi Osaka after the 23-time Grand Slam winner appeared to verbally abuse him by calling him a “liar” and a “thief”.
Williams also received a point penalty for smashing her racquet during the straight-sets defeat, while she was also handed a code violation for coaching during what turned out to be a match to forget for the 37-year-old, who also told Ramos that “you will never, ever, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live.”
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US Open referee Soeren Friemel confirmed that the decision has now been made that Ramos will not oversee matches involving Williams or her sister Venus during this year’s tournament in New York, as officials feel that is in the best interests of all concerned.
“We have selected the best officials for the 2019 US Open, and there is some flexibility,” Friemel told reporters. “It’s not the first time that we made decisions that is good for the tournament, is good for the players, and is good for the umpires as well to not be on those matches.
“In the end, our goal is to assign the best chair umpire for the right match so in taking all those factors into consideration, the decision was made that he would not do any of the Williams sisters’ matches.”
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