Did The US Open Umpire Make Fair Calls Against Serena Williams? | Megyn Kelly TODAY 

shame. the guy still try to defend. the audience applauded. all shameless creatures.

Carlos was already showing a lot of restraint and tried to talk to Serena, but Serena didn't listen at all and even told him to stop talking to her. She knows the rules well, and got what was coming to her.

To all the young tennis players out there, please conduct yourselves like Naomi Osaka did in the US Open's Women's final, and not like that other player.

Serena was wrong and thats it.

Serena, if I may add, wasn't on the court to "fight for women's rights and equality." She was on the court fighting for a 3.8 million dollar check and her 24th gland-slam title. Naomi was playing at a much higher level than she was and that frustrated her more than the umpire did. Had Serena been playing well, her coach wouldn't have had a need to use hand signals, and she wouldn't have smashed her racquet. It was Naomi's incredible performance that brought out Serena's despicable behavior.

It doesn't matter weather it is US OPEN final or village level game rule is rule applied to all......

Serena Williams reminded me of a 5 year-old. She threathened the referee/umpire that he would lose his job. Then when he confronted her with these actions, she called him a thief. She threw her racket to the ground which it's really good sportsmanship. And she falsely accused him of discriminating her for being a woman. This isn't the behaviour of a strong female icon, it's the behaviour of a small child.

Disagree that men spoke to him worse. They may have cursed and walked away, but Serena continued to berate the ref publicly and demanded an apology. She went after umpire like 3 times, not once.

Totally agreed with Megyn's opinion and she was so brave to state "unpopular" opinion perfectly. Can Serena supporters justify this to children who are wishing to become professional? As a parent, I was so sad to see Serena's disrespectful attitude and behavior on the court. The judge was right and the rules are rules.

The panelists here should be ashamed. The umpire deserves to get an unconditional apology from Serena and from the those NY people who booed him. They don't have the spine to say that Serena cheated.

People are saying the umpire should have given Serena another chance before the game penalty. From my view according to the video footage. The umpire did just that, he clearly endured the insults Serena was throwing at him and respected Serena after she said shut up and don't talk to me. You can see in the video the umpire clearly turned back his head to the court and said nothing to Serena. But guess what, after 5 seconds, Serena started again yelling at him and then called him thief. If it was me, I would already kicked Serena off the court, or given at any NCAA 1 tennis match, her behavior would cost a lot worse than what shes getting at this us open final. No wonder I always like her sister better, now I know why.

2018 US Open code violations statistics :- *10 women* received violations. *26 men* received violations. And still Serena defenders think Ramos was SEXIST .. lol

Serena contradicted herself when she said, "I don't cheat to win. I'd rather lose!" She violated the code of conduct three times in this match alone and that's nothing other than cheating! She was not fighting for women's right. She was simply trying to win by any means. Does anyone teach sportsmanship in this country any more?

The audience will just clap at anything.

Playing Women card everywhere doesnt make your argument relevant

Finally I agree with Megyn Kelly first time ever! She didn’t like she was losing, she knew she couldn’t win vs Naomi!

A rule is probably no good rule if you are not required to enforce it.

Hold the phone!!! Serena didn’t just call him a thief and a liar... she called him a SEXIST. Which is a very serious accusation. THATS why they want to boycott her.

Serena lost fair and square. Move on.

Serena was wrong for saying that she'd make sure that Carlos Ramos would never sit on another court again.

Also, you do realise McEnroe got exactly the same treatment and punishments in the '87 US Open. He also got a huge fine and a two month suspension. Just because it's a US Open final shouldn't make any difference to the rules.

Goodness, if Carlos Ramos was American they would've ripped him up so much worse just for his job. For those people who don't play tennis at least at a competitive level please don't bash the umpire. Try to umpire a match at the local neighborhood match with 100$ bet on the line and see what happens...let alone he was umpiring an 3.8 millions dollar match

"He is not required to do it" So he should have rewarded the cheater and the person that broke the rules and in doing so penalize the person that played by the rules? If this is the message that some people want to send to the kids that love and play tennis then the rules should be changed to benefit the cheaters... however since tennis and any other sport that I'm familiar with, rewards those that play by the rules and not the cheaters, the umpire was 100% correct. Serena is not above the rules just like Naomi isn't beneath the rules.

In europe this isn't even a thing, everyone knows Serena had a meltdown, like so many times before. Only in America.

Serena is and always was a petulant narcissistic bully. Remember 2009? She should be ashamed of herselffor behaving like a spoilt child. An apology to the umpire and Osaka should be given. She took away a glorious moment for Osaka who is the better player. Congratulations to the humble Naomi. This is only the first of many Grand Slams for you.Hooray for Naomi

that guy definitely never knows the rules. so silly to give poor irrational comments. I stand for the umpire, good comments from the host.

The umpire did try to defuse this by being patient, Serena would not let it lie she brought it all on herself. Serena threatened his career, and he has no form of official recourse.

The umpire did everything by the book, so you might as well call the rules racist.

That guy doesn't know what he's talking about. You can't give a 'soft warning' for deliberatly smashing your racket to bits on the court in anger. That's an automatic code violation for anyone and it's always enforced. They have to. The third violation actually happened after a long tirade of verbal abuse and accusations and he actually let it ride until he decided it was enough. The first code violation for coaching is debatable though (he could have given a soft warning), but he has every right to enforce it if he wants. The reason he might have enforced could have just been in respect to the much younger and less overally experienced player because he may have thought this was unfair on her.

Megan Kelly you are right.The gentleman was totally wrong in his assessment of the situation.Plain and simple if an umpire calls you or warn you for coaching say something or deny and walk away.Confrontation and lingering on the issue forgetting the business was the down fall of Serena.Hand signal was given from the box,whether you accepted or received it or act on it does not have any bearing.Just a warning nothing cost her at this stage better walk away.If You continuously argue then you are digging your own grave.That is what happened.Men always get punished,but smartly they will walk away before the warning.Serena has snapped and lost control of her destiny,So many times she will lose the first set thrash the opponent in the remaining sets.In fact I was expecting that out come but I did did not realise that she had different agenda namely sexism, women’s right, equal rights,racism and other rights.Sadly it was made into a political arena.Above all Osaka out played Serena in every department and well deserved to win the trophy.The biggest tragedy was to apologise for winning and the glory was taken away from the up coming talented player.

This is madness. Can't even get simple stuff right. The umpires said the way the WTA and USTA treated Ramos was shameful.

What a stupid argument - namely that the umpire should be lenient with the rules. lenient because its a final and lenient because serena is a spoilt brat. The fact that the coach made signs means she knew about them and she has evidently been doing it before. Then she went on and on with her hysterical rant and expected as a bully that she would bulldoze the umpire. She does not have respect for the dignity of the game nor towards her opponent. As to all the victim cards played included mother card its simply pathetic.

Who does not want to be penalized follows the rules. Who does not care if she is penalized does not follow the rules. Where is the justice? Will justice die? What about the other player? She could have lost the concentration and focus because of the continuous circus that was on the court during the brakes. What about the emotions of the umpire when he was accused of "stealing" and "lying"? Is he a human being? Does he have the right to have emotions or not?

The cartoon drawn by the Australian cartoonist depicting Serena throwing a tantrum is not offensive. Political cartoonist here in America have done much worse to U.S. presidents.

How do softly warn someone who demands you do not speak to her. The umpire was out of options.

Yes! She is a bad looser!!

serena violated the code of conduct, she should be banned from playing tennis. End of discussion.

"No one is saying he's under obligation..." While implying he was obligated to be "soft" on Serena because it's a big game...seriously dude, stop trying to kiss up.

I totally agree with M Kelly. Kelly really understand what happened., She is fair and smart, thumbs up ! Serina was rude to the empire. Unbelievable.　　　　 She is playing woman card instead of race card cuz Naomi’s father is black. I wonder who is lier?

Well done, Megyn Kelly. You always take the correct side. Listen to that ridiculous man and Serena-loving audience who want her to get special treatment. Get outta here!

Man...after this inrerview megyn looks 1000 times hotter to me

Do some ppl actual believe Carlos Ramos (ref) was born yesterday? He is a level 1 empire In tennis since 1994. He is one of the respected men in tennis who doesn't indulge in BS. He is a no nonsense man, who takes his job very seriously

People defending williams only shows how the media can manipulate the truth

so basically what people are saying now is that he shouldn't have done it because she is "serena williams", its not because she's woman as she is competing with a female, much younger and dominant player o the day! rules were same on both sides, if Osaka had done those she would get violations too but the thing which bothered me the most is she said "you won't be able to referee in any of my matches", like she was warning him! gtfo no matter how big a legend you are, referee is still the biggest in the game, he decides and you stfu and follow as he was with in all his rights to do so! even if its Messi or Ronaldo or Michael Jordon or Muhammed Ali himself in the ring, referee is the judge and rules are constitution of the game and you respect those. her saying that line is nothing but being egoistic and abuse of power and threatening with her privelage. and those violations if costed her the title then you shouldn't have done those also show that you are a "Strong woman with lot of experience" and use that to keep your mental state stable, which the young woman opposite side of court was better at!

"I think it's another thing to say that they're gonna boycott Serena's matches..." Really? Did you not hear what she said to Carlos Ramos?" "You will never ever be on another court of mine." Seriously, it's like people walking on egg shells regarding her tantrums in fear of backlash. You know what you saw and you know it wasn't good. Stop trying to find a middle ground for it where there is none.

Well done Megyn Kelly for speaking the truth, while all these apologists are making up excuses for what could only be described as appalling behavior. There is no excuse for the way she behaved, while it is almost a certainty that she actually cheated(watch the clips closely). One final point worth noting is the fact that her sexism claim was absolutely ridiculous, of the 35 times this year where tennis players have been penalized 26 went to men and 9 went to women. So men get penalized 3 times as much as women and suddenly when princess Serena gets it it's sexism? Absolute nonsense, she is a disgrace to the sport, I don't care how many titles she has. She lost twice that day. She kept banging on about wanting him to apologize to her but IMO if she does not apologize to him for her behavior she will live to regret this unacceptable tantrum of hers. And for what just because she was bested that day and is incapable of losing gracefully(not the first time she's done this btw).

I hate the argument that "It's the US Open final so he should just have let it go". At the top level, standards should be raised, not lowered imo.

Here is why it isn't a women's rights issue (Anyone who thinks this is a woman's right issue is nut). Imagine this. Imagine a tennis player who was coached, smashed and broke the racket, continued to verbally harass the umpire by calling the umpire a liar and a thief and also demanding apology again and again. Yes, the almost same situation between Serana and Ramos; except it was a male tennis player repeatedly insulting a female umpire. Would you think this female umpire should not penalize the aggressive male tennis player? Would this female umpire be sexist in punishing this male tennis player? Would you want him to fight for the some men's rights? If you thought even for a second that Serena was unfairly treated because of her gender, then please flip the gender and see how you truly feel about this. If you don't think a male tennis player should harass a female umpire without penalty, then I want to know why the reverse is acceptable, and even celebrated. A tennis player should not repeatedly insult an umpire -- it doesn't matter if the situation is between man-man, man-woman, woman-woman or woman-man. Simple. This is not acceptable. For you Serena's fan, you can continue to love Serena, but keep in mind that Serena is not a saint. It doesn't mean she is always perfect. It is ok for you to like Serena and while accepting that she (as a human) can make mistakes. If you cannot accept the fact a human can make mistake, then you are really treating her as a god.

Serena berated this umpire without any reserve. She was out of control. I have spent the last few days looking at her behavior record. I'm shocked. She is a problem when she's losing. I used to love to watch her. I won't bother watching her matches from now on. Bring on young players PLEASE.

Blonde journalist, you have my respect. Completely done your homework prior to give an opinion.

Parents, if you want your child to be successful in life you need 3 things: #1 Affection (love), #2 Instruction, and #3 Correction (spankings). If you remove one of those things, "no spank" parents, then you will deploy a child into society that thinks they're always right, nobody can tell them anything, and they can't lead or be led --- basically they become a loose cannon. "Spare the rod, SPOIL THE CHILD," is real.

She knew the rules too. She believes she is entitled to other rules. She ordered him to change his mind, commanded him to apologize for not changing his mind and then threatened to block him from ever judging again. She is a bully and I hope she watches the replay tapes and sees the judge really could not just make up his mind that he didn't see what he saw.

She simply realized she was gonna lose and had to blame it on someone else

Calling the umpire a 'fastidious rulemonger' makes it sound like hes over the top in enforcing the rules which is nonsense hes a great ump there are a few occasions in a long career where he has correctly penalised players for flagrant violations as he did with Serena

Megyn Kelly is an intelligent and well informed about the tennis rules. I agree with her. Serena was wrong and the empire had to penalize her for coaching, destroying her racket and verbal abuse. There shouldn't be a place in this world for insulting someone that is doing his/her job. Well done Carlos Ramos! Congrats to Naomi Osaka.

that simple - Today everybody is talking about this and nobody about the fact that she has been completely outplayed by Osaka. . . .and this may be the cause behind all this. Hard to face the fact that you are being outplayed in your courtyard. or what you consider to be your courtyard. In the end mission accomplished. Nobody is talking about this

@megynkelly - No such thing as 'Not Required to do it' it depends. How come you don't say that the opposite player could be mentally affected by observing the player being coached, and that's the reason in my opinion the rule exists. Its a disservice to the other player. Make no mistake, its what the Umpire observes, and has to make a judgement. This match is worth 3.8 million to the winner. The Coaching bit was also televised ( Some pro Serena groups choosing to clip off the nod by the Coach which suggested, the Coaches suggestion was accepted) . the Coaching and a nod by the Coach to the player. I would not nod to a tree or to anyone is not going to acknowledge my nod in agreement. The history of intimidation says it all.

Carlos Ramos followed the rule book correctly. You can't make a wrong right because others do it to. Respect to umpires is tantamount because they are the basis for fairness in scoring. I pray they form a union to protect themselves against bad behaviour Serena Williams who also cheats using TUE steroids enabled by WTA. The guy forgets that Serena was not stopping and umpiring is about the match not about controlling their immaturity. Navratilova is correct, raise the bar higher because this is supposedly the Sport for Kings. Imagine if Federer did that, and he doesn't that's why he is in every corner of the world recognised as a champion - Serena always had her detractors and now the world knows why.

The girl in the pink does her homework and respect the rules. She gets 2 thumb ups from me!! The blue dude is a disgrace. Rule is rule, it's either you play by the rule or don't have rule at all. Don't give me the BS just because it's the final so the same rule that applies on the regular game has no effect on the final. The umpire deserves a big bonus for his paycheck for doing the right thing. Serena had a melt down, she deserved that lost for not controlling her temper. Her coach admitted he was coaching her. In the tennis rule world, coaching is a violation, case close. Any umpire who did not or does not call it as violation, apparently does not follow the rule book and should be penalized. This is the UST Official fault for not enforcing the rule to all the umpires. If the players have a different take on Coaching, then they all should take it to the UST Official and abolish that rule.

Thanks Megyn, for calling as it is, however unpopular the opinion. I applaud your boldness. I think too many people clouded their judgments just because they love the player. The thing is, we cannot love their mistakes too and then justified the wrong doings as bad situation or someone else should be more lenient. This has nothing to do with being sexist, as Megyn pointed out that the umpire has called it on both men and women. Those men who said more nasty things KNEW if they went on berating, it could amount to a worse penalty. Case closed.

Defuse the situation by giving in to her. What a joke. Follow the rules. Period

Williams has NEVER been a good advocate for women's or anyone's rights. She's a terrible champion that has serious previous of this kind of behaviour.

Just my two cents on the situation Carlos did try to diffuse the situation but Serena said "dont talk to me" multiple times. Regardless of the player i felt that Carlos was right with his calls, had serena stopped after she broke her racquet she would have been fine but she called Carlos a liar and thief which volates one of the ITF regulations which caused her to get her third strike.

I like what Megan Kelly said here, she looked at how Carlos Ramos conducted men's matches and penalized them for bad behavior as well. The umpires have been disrespected for so many years. I remember a US Open match years ago where Ilie Nastase was playing McEnroe and the umpire tried to enforce the rules on Nastase and was removed from the match for doing the right thing. I think they should unionize or at least stand together against this player bullying. I have officiated a few matches in my life and know how extremely tough it is and these people should be respected for the job they do (did you hear that Mr. Connors and Mr. McEnroe)

Good luck for any person to defuse argument with Serena... 😂😂😂

i totally agree with megyn. rules are rules

Se owes an apologize to the umpire.

I'm a "Man of colour" and I'm sick of these people defending Serena because she's a black woman. Good to see there are sane Americans like Megyn Kelly who are not blinded by American Patriotism or Social Justice.

she is so punished 1.850.000 $ - 17.000 she only get 1.833.000 $

Serena Williams behavior was appalling! Serena did this to herself!

Carlos Ramos, the umpire, handled the situation perfectly. Serena’s behavior was unacceptable. Period.

Men didn't abuse umpire in finals or men didn't commit three violations in a game. What is the use of rules , if they are not allowed to enforce?

1:44 White Knight alert

Awe poor Serena cry baby.

WHY do i feel like everyone defending serena is just trying to look good on paper but ended up looking like a fool

The empire did the right thing, even her coach admitted giving her signs or signals. Serena lost it! 3 million prize is a lot of money.

megan kelly!!!!! soo goood!!! exactly!! thank you.

Not only did her coach coach her, but he nodded at the end when he knew she had got the message. So Serena is the one lying.

williams knew she had no chance to win so she was making drama to blame her loss on unfair umpire

The crowd's reactions to this discussion will tell you everything you need to know about what's wrong with american politics

Megyn Kelly is absolutely right! She might be the only journalist to have done some research.

Saying "You are a thief" is way worse than calling him a "F" Word.

That guy probably thinking arguing for a woman will make him look good in female fraternity and eventually get him laid. Can't blame him !

Rules are rules. Ita doesnt matter if you are in a first round game or in a US Open Finals. The umpire just followed the rules. The US Open fined Serena so it just shows us the umpire did the right thing.

This is just my opinion: in any other match, I think the ref should’ve been a little softer. The moment, however, it became the final match, is when he should’ve been even harsher than he was. This happened in the grand finals of two world class athletes. Disgrace and disrespect for yourself and your rival are the first things that come to mind.

Good call Megyn. Serena knows how to count to three.

There's no point in having rules if we are going to evaluate whether we apply them or not in every case. That's not fair.

Yes. Williams escalated her abuse as she went on. She had no right to do what she did. Her coach was coaching and Serena was penalized for it. They are the rules.

How dare you apply the rules to...ME. You owe me an apology! Say it!!

Why all major media try to defend Williams? She owes public apology for Naomi Osaka and Carlos Ramos! That is simple!

At one point during the discussion Serena told him to shut up and didn't let him speak while she was complaining. How can you defuse a situation if someone acts like that? Look up the full video.

Serena used the woman card because Osaka was black so she couldn't have gone with a racecard. Disgusting behaviour. First Nicki Minaj & Cardie B fighting. Then Serena acting a fool. What a low weekend for black women everywhere. Thank you Meghan for coming with the facts.

It's amazing how so many many Americans are so biased in favor of Serena.

How many times should he have allowed her to scream at him? 5 times? 10 times? She got exactly what she deserved.

It was Serena who first told Ramos that she will make sure that he never is going to umpire her games.

"He is allowed to call the penalty but not required" *thunderous applause from audience* I can't even put into words how backwards that is. I really hope the next generation has more common sense than this.

This guy looks absolutely ridiculous defending Williams with all what she's done!! Maybe he's afraid of being called racist sexist for pointing out she was just being a sore loser...

You choose the behaviour, you choose the consequences - Dr Phil.

If you have negatively affected the game of tennis to the point where officials don't want to officiate your matches, then you are probably in violation of the Aggravated Behavior rule, for which the penalty is career suspension from Grand Slam events. Serena is above the rules, and that is unfair to her opponents.

Yep, Serena was completely out of order. She kept on at the umpire where-by other players, generally, when Ramos warns a player the smarter take notice. But not Serena. On you Kelly.