Serena Williams' claims of sexism from tennis officials have been debunked in spectacular fashion, with an investigation from the New York Times finding that men are hit with nearly three times the amount of conduct violations as their female counterparts.
Williams, 36, a 23-time single grand slam champion, was given three separate code violations in last week's US Open final, resulting in Naomi Osaka being awarded a crucial point penalty which gifted her game seven of the second set, then an even more crucial game penalty to gift her the next game, and a 5-3 second set lead.
In a fiery on court scene, Williams protested that she was a victim of sexism, telling tournament referee Brian Earley, "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?
"That is not right."
However, the New York Times report finds Williams' claims are well wide of the mark.
In the 20-year period between 1998 and 2018, men have accrued 1,517 separate code violations, while women feature incurred 535.
The only real exception comes in terms of players being cited for coaching, with women being given violations 152 times, compared to men's 87.
Williams' first code violation was for coaching, before also notching up citations for racket abuse, and verbal abuse, calling chair umpire Carlos Ramos a "thief".
As a result of her outburst, Williams was slapped with a fine of NZ $25,700.
She claimed over $2m in prize money for being the runner-up.
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