John McEnroe, the ‘self-appointed commissioner of Tennis,’ has come to the defense of Serena Williams over the incident that happened in a post match press conference at the French Open.
Dominic Thiem, the Austrian world number 4, was booted outside of the press room when Serena Williams walked into the press room for her interview.
Thiem was extremely furious at being asked to step out of the press room for Serena, and said that the American star had a very bad personality. McEnroe was not happy with this situation and decided to share his thoughts on the matter.
McEnroe, in a recent interview, has mentioned that he thinks the whole scenario has been blown out of proportion by those in the media.
“It also gives me an opportunity to show how easy it is to engineer fake news and manipulate people’s opinions. Fact: Dominic Thiem was kicked out of the main press room in the middle of his media duties to make way for Serena Williams. Fact: Thiem was less than pleased about it. With these two facts, the social media public court was quick to deliver a verdict: “How can she do that? Does she have no shame? Who does she think she is?” ‘It was not only the usual hateful trolls who voiced their discontent. In fact, the mainstream media started to weigh in on it. See, there is something on the internet and they immediately start to report on it and voice an opinion. Yes, an opinion! Whatever happened to the fundamental rule of journalism? Three independent sources should confirm the fact, and then – only then – can you report on it,” said McEnroe during a recent interview.
He went on to say, “but here’s the problem: They didn’t have all their facts straight. Little known but true fact: Serena Williams had actually asked for a smaller room so that she could be done with it. But somehow the organizers insisted she hold the press conference in the main room where Thiem was at the time. ‘A smaller room was available because that’s where Thiem ended up. When Serena was made aware that they had to move the Austrian to make room for her she was heard saying: “Whoah, that’s rude!” Yes it was. See this is not a tiny detail. It changes the whole f***ing story. Serena’s not a diva who can’t wait two minutes. She’s the victim of a screw up by the organization, and so is Thiem. ‘I know a lot of journalists who should eat a good slice of humble pie after this one.”
The facts by McEnroe appear dodgy and not in congruence with what was the reality. Williams did not want to be sent into a second conference room, she wanted to be in the area where Dominic Thiem was holding his press conference. She even told a tournament official that ‘woah you’re very rude’ when he asked her to shift rooms.
The only victim here is Dominic Thiem, and he needs justice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFYkgpC8UCE