Roger Federer thinks Serena Williams 'went too far' in U.S. Open meltdown

It’s been a few months since Serena Williams’ meltdown at the U.S. Open final turned into one of the biggest sports stories of the year.

But one of the biggest names in the game — Roger Federer — recently chimed in, and he has a blunt take: Williams went too far.

Federer: Williams should have walked away

“I feel like Serena should have walked away,” Federer told The London Times. “She went too far. She should have walked earlier. It’s a little bit excusable. The umpire maybe should not have pushed her there. It’s unfortunate, but an incredible case study.”

Williams was issued three code violations in the September loss to Naomi Osaka and had an emotionally charged confrontation with chair umpire Carlos Ramos after receiving a coaching violation.

“I don’t cheat to win,” Williams told Ramos after the coaching violation. “I’d rather lose.”

Her second code violation was assessed after she smashed her racket. Williams demanded an apology from Ramos and called him a thief for docking her a point for the code violations.

That outburst earned a third code violation for verbal abuse against an umpire at the cost of a game.

Williams believed she was a target

Williams argued that she was being treated differently than a man would be in the same situation and that she had repeatedly been a target of U.S. Open umpires.

The incident sparked a debate over whether men get treated differently than women by umpires in emotional on-court moments in terms of being penalized.

Federer puts perspective on outburst

While Federer believes that Williams could have kept her cool better in the situation, he recognized there are far worse outbursts in the world of sports, calling out UFC fighter Conor McGregor.

“We do so well in tennis,” Federer said. “Our sport is so well behaved. You see the UFC guy throw a railing, or in other sports they spit and swear at each other on a regular basis.”

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