Serena Williams fined $17,000 for U.S. Open final code violations following controversial loss

Following a controversial championship match loss at the U.S. Open on Saturday, tennis star Serena Williams has been fined $17,000 by tournament officials.

Williams fell 6-2, 6-4 to Naomi Osaka — who became the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam — after getting into a heated argument with umpire Carlos Ramos that ultimately cost Williams three violations and swung the match heavily towards the young phenom Osaka.

After Ramos warned Williams about receiving coaching from her team in the stands, the 23-time Grand Slam winner defiantly told the umpire that she doesn’t cheat and “would rather lose.” Things escalated as Ramos continued docking Williams, who then called the judge a “thief”.

Williams continued to defend herself after the match and called out the sport’s double-standard, saying that no male tennis player has ever faced such harsh penalties for similar actions.

According to the Associated Press, the tournament referee’s office docked Williams $10,000 for “verbal abuse” of chair umpire Carlos Ramos, $4,000 for being warned for coaching, and $3,000 for breaking her racket. The money will come out of her runner-up prize of $1.85 million.

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee

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