More people watched Serena Williams than men’s final at US open

Serena Williams’s controversial loss in the U.S. Open women’s tennis final won 3.1 million viewers, about 1 million more than the number watching the men’s final a day later, according to ESPN.

Williams, who is considered one of the greatest players of all time with 23 Grand Slam victories, was beaten by 20-year-old Naomi Osaka of Japan on Saturday night.

The match was clouded with controversy after umpire Carlos Ramos penalized Williams a point, and then a game, for three violations.

{mosads}After the match, Williams accused Ramos of sexism, arguing male players have been more aggressive verbally with umpires but not penalized as she was.

Williams called Ramos a thief for taking a point from her, which led Ramos to penalize her for a full game based on her third code violation.

“I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality and for all kinds of stuff. For me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was a sexist remark,” Williams said after the final.

“He’s never taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief.’ For me it blows my mind. But I’m going to continue to fight for women,” Williams said.

The men’s final, which featured two of the game’s top players in Novak Djokovic and Juan Martín del Potro, drew 2.07 million viewers while competing against the NFL’s opening slate of Sunday games.