LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The chair umpire who penalized Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final has spoken publicly for the first time since the match, saying he is “fine.” 
 
 Ramos, who is from Portugal, spoke briefly to Portuguese newspaper Tribuna Expresso this week. 
 
 “I’m fine, given the circumstances,” Ramos said, according to the newspaper. “It’s a delicate situation, but umpiring ‘a la carte’ doesn’t exist. Don’t worry about me.” 
 
 The newspaper said Ramos received hundreds of messages of support from family, colleagues, players and former players. He said he has avoided social media and only reads “balanced” articles about the incident. He also refrained from going out the day after the final to avoid problems, according to the report. 
 
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 The International Tennis Federation has defended Ramos for his actions during the final. The U.S. Open fined Williams for her three code violations. 
 
 The WTA later called for equal treatment of all tennis players and coaching to be allowed across the sport. 
 
 Ramos has been assigned to officiate the Davis Cup semifinal matches between the United States and Croatia, a best-of-five series which begins Friday and ends Sunday in Zadar, Croatia. ||||| It’s worth noting that Ms. Williams has some serious scar tissue when it comes to this particular tournament. In 2004, she was subjected to some notoriously awful line-calling and umpiring in a match against Jennifer Capriati. In 2009, she suffered a self-inflicted wound when, at match point in a semifinal against Kim Clijsters, she lost her temper at a line judge, leading to a point penalty that resulted in her automatically losing the match. In 2011, in a final against Samantha Stosur, Ms. Williams lost a point for yelling, “Come on!” after hitting a forehand that appeared to help her regain her momentum in a game she’d been losing. She went on to berate the umpire, calling her “unattractive inside,” and was hit with another code violation. 
 
 All of this U.S. Open history, combined, perhaps, with always feeling like an outsider in the game of tennis — I know exactly how that feels — goes some way toward explaining why Ms. Williams reacted the way she did, and most of all, how she just couldn’t let go. But what is clear is she could very much not let go. 
 
 Much of the coverage has focused on what happened when Ms. Williams confronted Mr. Ramos a second time, demanding an apology and calling him a thief. Mr. Ramos handed Ms. Williams a third code violation — which cost her a whole game. After a long confrontation, play resumed. Naomi Osaka went on to win the match — her first major title, and the first major title for Japan as well — under an onslaught of booing and drama the likes of which, as far as I know, we have never seen in a final of a Grand Slam. 
 
 It’s difficult to know, and debatable, whether Ms. Williams could have gotten away with calling the umpire a thief if she were a male player. But to focus on that, I think, is missing the point. If, in fact, the guys are treated with a different measuring stick for the same transgressions, this needs to be thoroughly examined and must be fixed. But we cannot measure ourselves by what we think we should also be able to get away with. In fact, this is the sort of behavior that no one should be engaging in on the court. There have been many times when I was playing that I wanted to break my racket into a thousand pieces. Then I thought about the kids watching. And I grudgingly held on to that racket. 
 
 Ms. Williams was absolutely marvelous toward Ms. Osaka after the match. A true champion at her best. But during the match — well, enough said. The way Ms. Osaka carried herself both during and after the match was truly inspiring. 
 
 So is there a double standard in tennis? 
 
 We do need to take a hard look at our sport, without any rose-colored glasses, and root out any inconsistencies and prejudices that might be there. Tennis is a very democratic sport, and we need to make sure it stays that way. 
 
 But it is also on individual players to conduct themselves with respect for the sport we love so dearly. Because we all look so forward to the next time Ms. Williams and Ms. Osaka play each other; hopefully the drama will come from their magnificent shots and their fierce competitiveness — two athletes showing us how it is done, inspiring us all in the process. 
 
 Martina Navratilova is a broadcaster, former tennis champion and human rights activist. 
 
 Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter. ||||| The game’s top umpires are considering forming a union because they believe Carlos Ramos was “hung out to dry” by the authorities during and after the US Open women’s final despite upholding the rules in sanctioning Serena Williams. 
 
 Serena Williams’s meltdown is a sign that tennis lies at a crossroads | Kevin Mitchell Read more 
 
 Many officials were also left angry with the fact that the International Tennis Federation took nearly 48 hours to defend Ramos, on Monday afternoon, by which time the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and United States Tennis Association (USTA) had supported Williams’s claims of sexism after she was given a game penalty for her behaviour during her defeat by Naomi Osaka. 
 
 Umpires are not allowed to speak out publicly under the terms of their contracts, and are employed by grand slams and men’s and women’s tours, which means many are reluctant to say anything for fear of losing their jobs. However, one senior figure told the Guardian that privately there was widespread concern about how the USTA and WTA had rushed to support Williams – which had led to vitriol and abuse on social media for Ramos. 
 
 “There is a lot of unhappiness in the umpiring community because no one is standing up for officials,” the senior figure told the Guardian. “Umpires keep asking: ‘What if it was me in that chair on Saturday?’ There is a widespread feeling that Carlos was hung out to dry for nearly 48 hours and that no one is standing up for officials.” 
 
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 In the absence of any official support for Ramos until Monday, it was left to two former senior umpires, Mike Morrissey and Richard Ings, to defend the Portuguese official. “I have had lots of messages saying this is a joke,” said one source. “There is a lot of anger out there.” 
 
 That has led to several umpires privately pushing for an officials’ union, an idea that has floated around on and off for years, as a matter of urgency. One source, who has been privy to some of the discussions, said: “Umpires don’t have any independent means of representation and are employed by the governing bodies. If talking to the media is not allowed, and governing bodies are speaking out against them, what are umpires supposed to do?” 
 
 On Monday, the International Tennis Federation, for whom Ramos is a contracted gold badge umpire, belatedly issued a statement to support his handling of the final. It confirmed that, under the grand slam rulebook, all three violations he issued against Williams – following the three-step penalty process of warning-point-game – were correct. 
 
 'Repugnant, racist': News Corp cartoon on Serena Williams condemned Read more 
 
 “Carlos Ramos is one of the most experienced and respected umpires in tennis,” the statement said. “Mr Ramos’s decisions were in accordance with the relevant rules and were reaffirmed by the US Open’s decision to fine Ms Williams for the three offences.” 
 
 Ramos also made a public statement, his first since the US Open, saying he was “good, under the circumstances” despite the controversy. “It’s an unhappy situation but à la carte refereeing doesn’t exist,” the 47-year-old told Portugal’s Tribuna Expresso. “Don’t you worry about me!” 
 
 
 
 Ramos, who told the newspaper that he had avoided walking the streets of New York on Sunday to avoid any “complicated situations”, confirmed he would be back in the chair on Friday after the ITF appointed him to officiate the semi-final of the Davis Cup, the international men’s team event, between Croatia and the United States. 
 
 ||||| The ITF has released the following statement relating to umpiring decisions during the 2018 US Open Women’s final: 
 
 “Carlos Ramos is one of the most experienced and respected umpires in tennis. Mr. Ramos’ decisions were in accordance with the relevant rules and were re-affirmed by the US Open’s decision to fine Serena Williams for the three offences.” 
 
 “It is understandable that this high profile and regrettable incident should provoke debate. At the same time, it is important to remember that Mr. Ramos undertook his duties as an official according to the relevant rule book and acted at all times with professionalism and integrity.” 
 
 
 
 The Grand Slam Rule Book can be found here. Player on site offences including the point penalty schedule used in this instance can be found in Article III. ||||| FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, file photo, Serena Williams, right, talks with referee Brian Earley during the women's final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament against Naomi Osaka, of Japan, in... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, file photo, Serena Williams, right, talks with referee Brian Earley during the women's final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament against Naomi Osaka, of Japan, in New York. Some black women say Serena Williams’ experience at the U.S. Open final resonates with them.... (Associated Press) 
 
 MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A cartoon of Serena Williams that has been widely condemned as a racist depiction of the tennis great has been partially reprinted on the front page of the Melbourne-based newspaper that initially published it. 
 
 The Herald Sun newspaper printed an edited portion of the cartoon — featuring 23-time Grand Slam winner Williams jumping on a broken racket during her dispute with a chair umpire in the U.S. Open final — among caricatures of other famous people Wednesday under the headline "Welcome to the PC World." 
 
 The newspaper, which has Australia's largest circulation, has defended its cartoonist Mark Knight's depiction of Williams and is asserting that the condemnation, which has come from all parts of the world, is driven by political correctness. 
 
 "If the self-appointed censors of Mark Knight get their way on his Serena Williams cartoon, our new politically correct life will be very dull indeed," the paper said on its front page. 
 
 Williams has won the Australian Open singles title seven times at Melbourne Park, including in 2017 when she was pregnant. She is a crowd favorite at the first tennis major of the year, which is held each January at a venue that is within sight of the Herald Sun's headquarters. 
 
 In comments published by News Corp., Knight said that he created the cartoon after watching Williams' "tantrum" during her U.S. Open final loss to Naomi Osaka on Saturday and that it was designed to illustrate "her poor behavior on the day, not about race." 
 
 Knight reportedly has disabled his Twitter account after his post of the cartoon attracted tens of thousands of comments, mostly critical. 
 
 During the final against Osaka, Williams got a warning from the chair umpire for violating a rarely enforced rule against receiving coaching from the sidelines. An indignant Williams emphatically defended herself, denying she had cheated. A short time later, she smashed her racket in frustration and was docked a point. She protested and demanded an apology from the umpire, who penalized her a game. 
 
 Critics of Knight's cartoon described it as a clear example of a stereotype facing black women, depicting Williams as an irate, hulking, big-mouthed black woman jumping up and down on a broken racket. The umpire was shown telling a blond, slender woman — meant to be Osaka, who is Japanese and Haitian — "Can you just let her win?" 
 
 "I was deeply offended. This is not a joke," said Vanessa K. De Luca, former editor-in-chief of Essence magazine, who wrote a column about the U.S. Open furor. 
 
 The cartoonist "completely missed the point of why she was upset," De Luca told The Associated Press. "It was about her integrity, and anybody who doesn't get that is perpetuating the erasure that so many black women feel when they are trying to speak up for themselves. It's like our opinions don't matter." 
 
 In a social media post, Peter Blunden, managing director of News Corp.'s operations in the state of Victoria, said: "Australia's finest cartoonist Mark Knight has the strongest support of his colleagues for his depiction of Serena Williams' petulance. It's about bad behavior, certainly not race. The PC brigade are way off the mark ... again." 
 
 This isn't the first time a cartoon in a News Corp. newspaper has drawn allegations of racism. In 2009, civil rights leaders and others criticized a New York Post cartoon that some interpreted as comparing President Barack Obama to a violent chimpanzee. 
 
 In Britain, where fiercely competitive tabloids often trade in sensationalism, Rupert Murdoch-owned newspapers have been accused of sexism, racism and xenophobia over the years. Last year a former editor of the Murdoch-owned Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, quit as a contributor to the tabloid after writing a column comparing a soccer player with part-Nigerian heritage to a gorilla. 
 
 Many years of outrage over articles and cartoons did little to hurt Murdoch's power over British politics and media, though his papers' underhanded practices did. Murdoch was forced to shut down the 168-year-old tabloid News of the World in 2011 after the revelation that its employees had eavesdropped on the phone voice mails of celebrities, politicians and crime victims. 
 
 Australian indigenous playwright and actress Nakkiah Lui tweeted in response to the front page, saying the Herald Sun needed to "chill." 
 
 "Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom above criticism," she said. 
 
 "What we have is a bunch of people who get paid to publicly exercise their implied freedom to speech then whining when people disagree with what they have had the privilege of being paid to say," she added. 
 
 Australian writer Maxine Beneba Clarke said she believed the front page demonstrated a "misunderstanding" of the criticism leveled at the cartoon. 
 
 "I think it's really interesting that the Herald Sun has not included really any other caricatures or cartoons of black people — either Aboriginal people or African-American people, black people of any descent," Clarke, who is of Afro-Caribbean descent, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. 
 
 Cartoonist Paul Zanetti, a friend of Knight, said cartooning was under threat from political correctness, and the Herald Sun front page "spelt out exactly where we are at this point." 
 
 "Political correctness is really all about censoring, it's about being bullied into conforming to a view of the world," he said.
– Serena Williams has already been hit with a $17,000 fine for a confrontation Saturday at the US Open with the chair umpire. Now she may face a boycott from other umps who stand behind Carlos Ramos, per the Washington Post. In Serena's court: the US Tennis Association, tennis legend Billie Jean King, and NOW, which back her claims of sexism after Ramos issued a game penalty in her faceoff against Naomi Osaka. But the International Tennis Federation, the tourney's governing body, has said Ramos acted with "professionalism," and Martina Navratilova agrees that there's a double standard for men and women in tennis, but thinks that Williams "got part of it wrong." Now, new reports reveal umpires are mulling a boycott of Williams' games, as well as unionization, partly because they can't speak to the media about specific matches. An anonymous official tells the Times of London that Ramos was "thrown to the wolves" and "not supported" by the USTA, leaving umpires to feel "hung out to dry," per the Guardian. "If talking to the media is not allowed, and governing bodies are speaking out against them, what are umpires supposed to do?" one source notes. "The umpiring fraternity is thoroughly disturbed at being abandoned by the WTA," a retired ump tells ESPN. Ramos, a Portuguese native, told a newspaper in his home country he's "fine, given the circumstances" and "don't worry about me," the AP reports. "It's a delicate situation, but umpiring 'a la carte' doesn't exist," he added. Meanwhile, Australia's Herald Sun has defiantly issued a partial reprint of a controversial cartoon of Williams, widely condemned for being a racist caricature, on its front page, accompanied by the headline "Welcome to the PC World," per the AP.