Serena Williams failed to play fair at US Open tennis final

However, the actions of Serena Williams at the US Open appeared to demonstrate her unwillingness to adhere to the rules of the game and her poor judgment. She failed to be true and fair with an opponent, she used foul language and threatened a person in authority, and she failed to accept that while she might or might not have taken the coaching advice, her coach did admit to cheating.

Williams is one of the world’s tennis greats. While I’m not suggesting she has not had to battle racism and sexism in tennis, it now appears any one of us could cite racism, sexism, ageism, parenthood or all of the above when we find ourselves up against adversity, and in particular, authority.

There are times when we expect to win but simply find ourselves having to accept that we just didn’t perform well that day. There must be a distinction between feeling frustrated when one does not perform as well as one would have liked, and accepting that we must adhere to rules and be humble when someone else achieves something special.

K. Clayton, Macau