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Serena Williams: 'I don't understand coach's claims'

By Mutala Yakubu
Serena Williams
Serena Williams
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Serena Williams says she wants to move on from her controversial US Open final defeat by Naomi Osaka.

In the final, the American was given a code violation for coaching, incurred a point penalty for racquet smashing and was docked a game for verbal abuse.

Williams denies she was being coached from the stands, despite her coach Patrick Mouratoglou saying he was sending her signals.

"I just don't understand what he was talking about," Williams said.

Williams, who was aiming to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, said she had not received any tactics from Mouratoglou, telling the umpire she would "never cheat to win and would rather lose".

 

Speaking to The Sunday Project on Australia's Network Ten, she added: "I asked him (Mouratoglou) 'what are you talking about you were coaching? We don't have signals, we've never had signals'.

"He said he made a motion. So I was like 'you made a motion and now you told people that you're coaching me - that doesn't make sense, why would you say that?'

Read also:US Open 2018: Serena Williams accuses umpire of sexism after outbursts in final

"I was on the other side. I didn't see the motion. It was just a really confusing moment, I think, for him.

"What I'm trying to do most of all is to recover from that and move on."

Following the accusation of coaching, Williams was punished for racquet smashing and verbal abuse, following several outbursts that saw her call the umpire a "liar" and "thief".

Williams did not answer when questioned about whether she regretted breaking her racquet on the court.

Following the final she was fined $17,000 (£13,100) for the code violations.

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