The U.S. Open blew up in controversy following the unfair penalties given to Serena Williams by the umpire Sept. 8. Williams was claiming she was a victim of injustice against female athletes, and with good reason. Sexism against woman athletes has always been an issue, which makes it even more important that Williams — a widely-respected WOC athlete — spoke up.

It started with a verbal warning for “coaching” — of which Williams denied having participated in — followed with a point penalty for breaking a racket, and finally, a game penalty for verbal altercations with the umpire. With this penalty, Naomi Osaka took the title of the first Japanese woman to win the tournament. Osaka gave her acceptance speech in tears, apologizing to Williams for something that was not her fault and should not have even happened in the first place.

Coaching in tennis matches is something that occurs often and equally as often goes overlooked by referees. In Williams’s case, however, the referee Carlos Ramos accused her of cheating when her coach was seen giving her hand signals. Williams replied defensively, saying that she would rather lose than cheat to win.

Later in the game when Wiliams broke her racket on the ground, she was given a point penalty, which once again revealed the sexism occurring. When men break their racket like Williams did, or when men are coached, it often goes unnoticed, or is just let off as a warning instead of receiving a penalty.

It’s clear to anyone who has done an ounce of research on Williams that she has worked hard to get to the top, overcoming hurdles such as being compared to a wild gorilla after her win at the 2015 French Open, or at the 2001 BNP Paribas Open, where an onslaught of people called Williams and her sister Venus a racial slur after withdrawing from the match.

At the same match in 2001, someone also told her that he would skin her alive if it had been 1975, and yet she walked away and kept pushing forward, returning to the same event in 2015, according to Vox.com. It’s presumable that she would not throw her well-earned reputation away by doing something as insignificant as cheating.

In an interview after the game, Williams claimed that there are a lot of male players who have said or done worse and gotten no repercussions. It’s less of Ramos’ fault in this case, as many tennis experts claim he has always held every player to the same standards and penalties; rather, it’s the other umpires who refuse to acknowledge the wrongdoings of men and instead waste their time on putting down women.

Although it was wrong on Williams’ part to blow up on the umpire, the bigger picture that arose from the outcome of this match is far more pressing. The inevitable existence of double-standardizing women in the sports industry is still prominent, even in 2018.

Not existing in this match alone, there have been other occurrences of sexism in tennis recently. One example is Alize Cornet being given a point violation after taking off her shirt for a few seconds to turn it around after seeing it was on backwards, according to ESPN. More recently, according to NPR, Williams received a violation for wearing a catsuit designed to help her blood clots to an event, being told it was inappropriate and disrespectful to tennis as a sport.

People who claim sexism still does not exist today in our society are blissfully ignorant and could learn a thing or two from Williams. It’s ridiculous that it is 2018 and women still must fight for equal rights. Sure, maybe the wage gap no longer exists, and perhaps white women have more freedom than ever, but that doesn’t make the putting down of strong, hardworking women any more acceptable.

I hope that the unfortunate example set by this match can change people’s minds about the double-standardizing of women. We must continue and follow in Williams’s example of speaking up for women’s rights. We must continue to support women athletes, woman of color and underprivileged women trying their best to just make a living. We’ve come so far as a country, but we’ve still got a long way to go.