Serena Williams argued that she was subject to a double standard when she was cited for verbal abuse by the chair umpire Carlos Ramos during the United States Open women’s final last Saturday. 

“There are men out here who do a lot worse than me, but because I’m a woman you are going to take this away from me?”  she protested to Brian Earley, the tournament referee. “ That is not right.” 

Each situation should be evaluated on its own merits, but according to data compiled by officials at Grand Slam tournaments for the past 20 years, men are penalized more often for verbal abuse.