Serena Williams Smashed Racket Sold For Over $20,000

Serena Williams smashed her tennis racket on the court at the US Open and now it has been auctioned off for thousands. 

In 2018 at the US Open, during a match against Naomi Osaka, the professional tennis player destroyed her racket on the floor after a heated confrontation with the chair umpire.

Osaka was the winner of the match, leaving Williams frustrated to which she argued with the chair umpire but the decision was already made, taking away the potential of it being her 24th grand slam.

The ball boy was given the racket that Serena smashed on the ground, who went on to sell it for $500 — something which he admitted regretting, saying to the New York Times, “Looking back I wish I’d had someone help me with the process. I was not familiar with how any of this works. I just wanted to get rid of it.”

In an auction, the racket has sold for $20,910.

The chair umpire claimed Williams’ coach was giving hand signals throughout the match, something that is forbidden — the 38-year-old argued with the umpire, saying, “You owe me an apology. I have never cheated in my life! I have a daughter and I stand for what’s right for her. I don’t cheat to win. I’d rather lose.”

Speaking with members of the press after the incident, she said, “I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff and for me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark.”

The tennis player was later fined $17,000 because of the incident, with a USTA spokesman saying, “Some of these incidents, you know, have prompted us to reflect on the clarity of our own communication to the chair umps. These incidents will prompt us to analyse ways of perhaps instituting some change. We certainly do not want inconsistencies.”

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