Love. It means something different to everyone. To tennis players, it means the start of the game where you can only go up from there. According to the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) the sport has around 17.9 million players in the United States. On Aug. 27, the US Open tennis tournament began.

On Sept. 8, Serena Williams of the United States faced off against Naomi Osaka of Japan in the finals of the competition. During the match, Williams received three separate violations adding up to a total of $17,000 worth of fines. The fines issued by chair umpire Carlos Ramos were; $4,000 for a coaching violation, $3,000 for racket abuse and $10,000 for verbal abuse. The controversy brought boos in the trophy ceremony, where Williams wished her opponent, Osaka, a congratulations and tried to calm the situation down from what it had been throughout the match.

“My first thought was surprise, because I didn’t know she[Williams] was one to get that heated over a match,” junior Hannah Brockhuis said. “Nobody should get that mad about a game.”

With all the drama surrounding the chair umpire decisions, Williams wanted to share a positive message in her post-game interview. There she discussed her intentions through the words she used when she was deducted a game. The chair umpires’ fines are not able to be reviewed and followed all the guidelines stated in the rule book of the tournament.

“When you play tennis, you should not get mad when your opponent is beating you or something happens,” junior Shayla Eslampour said. “It should not be you lashing out against the chair umpire because it only makes it worse. The umpires have the ultimate call.”

Talk about women’s equality have been circulating throughout the entire 2018 US Open tournament. After a handful of fines, some, including Williams, are speaking out. Calls for changes in these rules have not yet been made, but discussion about if games have been called fairly is up in the air. The game of tennis has rules and regulations that should be set in place to respect both players, male and female alike.

“I am upset that the match was not played out all the way, even though Osaka played really well,” Eslampour said. “It is not as enjoyable to watch as a viewer because you are there to watch tennis not players receiving fines.”