Serena Williams Receives Written Apology From Russian Tennis Federation President
World no. 1 Serena Williams revealed at the WTA finals that she received a written apology from the Russian Tennis Federation President, Shamil Tarpischev on Thursday. After winning against Eugenie Bouchard 6-1, 6-1, the 18-time Grand Slam champion talked about the issue during her post-match press conference.
"Yes, I have received -- he has reached out to apologize to both myself and my sister.It was written. No, I did not speak to him," Serena Williams claimed.
Just recently, Serena Williams expressed her aversion against the male chauvinistic-like remark made by the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev during a talk show last week, according to the New York Times.
Tarpischev referred to the Williams sisters as "the Williams brothers," before Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova were set to compete against each other for the number 1 spot at the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) finals. Along with the 18-time Grand Slam champion, Maria Sharapova took the higher-ground and spoke against the sexist-bullying remark.
Prior to the written apology sent to Williams, Tarpischev already made a public apology for his thoughtless name calling of the Williams' sisters and he was also given a one year suspension from WTA activity and was fined the maximum amount of $25,000, by the Chairman and Chief Executive of the WTA, Stacey Allaster. The 33-year-old tennis superstar considers the consequences given to Tarpischev were promptly awarded in the most appropriate way.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams are recipients of three gold medals in doubles, world no. 1 title holders in the WTA and both have numerous Grand Slam singles titles. Although the world no. 1 was pulled out of her previous tournaments in China due to health issues, Serena Williams continued her winning streak at the WTA Finals.
Despite an injury-hit preparation and the sexist and racist remarks from the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, the 18-time Grand Slam champion made it 16-consecutive wins at the season-finale championship by beating the Serb Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-4. Thus far, Williams is now just five wins behind Martina Navratilova, the all-time record of 21-consecutive championships in the tournament.