The Russian Tennis Federation official who insulted Serena Williams is appealing against his punishment.
Shamil Tarpischev has challenged the WTA’s decision to ban him from tennis for one year, after he referred to Serena as “one of the Williams’ brothers” during a Russian radio show in October.
Tarpischev made the comment after he was asked about Williams’ tennis match against Russian ace Maria Sharapova at the 2012 London Olympics.
Serena, not unlike most women’s rights groups and the general public, failed to see the humour in his comments, accusing the Russian official of sexism and racism.
As a result, The WTA banned Tarpischev for one year from all its events, and also slapped him with a $25,000 fine. He has since published letters of apology to both Serena and her sister Venus.
At the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore, Serena confirmed that Tarpischev had apologized to her sister in writing, but did not say whether she had accepted his apology.
Other posts by Azlyn Balqis
