It's been said before: Come for the queen, you best not miss. Venus Williams, long heralded as a mainstay of sportsmanship in tennis—not just women's tennis, but the sport itself—came under fire from a chair umpire late in her three-set victory over Alize Cornet at the French Open. Carlos Ramos—in the chair a round after Cornet's chair umpire did nothing in the midst of her is-she-or-is-she-not-injured dramatics that basically amounted to cramping—accused Venus of receiving hand signals from her coach, David Witt, in the stands.
Venus—alongside the likes of Samantha Stosur among WTA veterans—is a patron saint of sportsmanship, in the words of Mary Carillo. The seven-time Grand Slam champion flatly refused to agree with Ramos' call. Roll footage: