For the Next One

We only needed to look at the faces. That of chair umpire Carlos Ramos, which was only noticed in the moment when Serena Williams pointed her finger at it; the face of Naomi Osaka, who besides being the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam also became the first to ask forgiveness upon doing so; that of the U.S. Open officials whose non-response to Williams’ “You know I am right!” was to merely clasp their hands together as if they were praying. All faces filled with dread because everyone realized that today meant confronting a victim and that Serena was unfurling all the destructive capacity of her self-aware condition. Sexism, tears and even her child’s education — a perfect combination.

When the chair umpire penalized Serena for receiving instructions from her trainer, she succumbed to rage, destroyed her racquet in the following game, and, when she was rebuked for that, called the referee a thief and asked him for an apology. As this behavior would usually have consequences, Serena applied the famous palliative measure and demonstrated that there is no aggression more devastating in its subtlety than that of playing the victim. Because it works. Especially for someone who is rich, admired and famous, which is what Serena is and Ramos is not. The former was applauded during the awarding of the trophies and the latter was not even able to attend; she received the immediate backing of the Women’s Tennis Association and other figures within the sport and he was burdened with the entire history of patriarchy on his shoulders. The old Marxists would today be talking about the struggle of the classes, but the engine of history has changed and, along with it, the historical subject, which is no longer the proletariat but the victim. For this reason, the referee is the predator and the star the oppressed and not the other way round.

In the press conference, Williams stuck with her argument despite her trainer having already admitted that he did, indeed, make the gestures that triggered the referee’s decision. He had been fair, or maybe in other words, the thief. It didn’t matter, because the tennis star was no longer speaking about tennis: “I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff.” And, finally, she stressed: “I just feel like the fact that I have to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions, and that wants to express themselves, and wants to be a strong woman. They’re going to be allowed to do that because of today. Maybe it didn’t work out for me, but it’s going to work out for the next person.” It could be that in this regard, she is completely right.