A modern day fable

A Japanese kid growing up in New York is a great fan of an African American Tennis star. OK, lets call the idol, Serena Williams. A dozen years later, the Japanese kid is now a budding tennis star. She is twentieth seed at the US Open. She is playing her idol at the finals and giving her a hard time. Serena's coach gestures to her from the stands, which is illegal - coaching in the course of a match. It is unclear if Serena sees the gestures, but the umpire does. He duly penalises Serena Williams. She retorts, "You are a thief!" The umpire docks a game against Serena for verbal abuse. She loses the match and the chance of winning her 24th Grand Slam title. The crowd boos the Japanese player and she is reduced to tears. Serena urges the crowd to calm down. She congratulates her 20 year old opponent, who is sixteen years her junior. Later Serena says that she got the game docked against her solely because she is a female. Men players have called umpires much nastier things and gotten away with it. So she claims. Meanwhile, sports fans are struggling to recollect the name of the champion.

Moral of the fable: Like all modern day fables, there is no moral!

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