ESPN under-fire over ‘unprofessional’ botched US Open graphic of Serena and Venus Williams

Tennis fans were furious to see a botched ESPN graphic that was supposed to include photos of both Venus and Serena Williams. ‘I think ESPN just threw up a graphic using two pictures of Serena????’ one eagle-eyed fan wrote on X. ‘Whoops.’The graphic was intended to depict the five American women of the Open Era with the most victories in major singles matches before their 23rd birthday.That list is topped by Venus Williams at 107, thanks to a professional career that began when she was just 14. Serena, who also turned pro at 14, ranked second with 103 wins before turning 23, followed by Mary Joe Fernandez (93), Chris Evert (90) and Coco Gauff (89).Unfortunately for ESPN, Venus was not pictured. Instead, the graphic included two different photos of Serena alongside the images of Fernandez, Evert and Gauff. ‘[ESPN] please do better,’ one fan wrote on X. ‘This is unprofessional.’ Tennis fans were furious to see a botched ESPN graphic during the ongoing US Open Serena (right) and Venus (left) lost their first-round doubles match at Flushing Meadows’For how bad ESPN is, they should be embarrassed over this,’ another added on the r/tennis subreddit.One fan joked that Ben Shelton’s five-set quarterfinal win over reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz probably deprived ESPN’s graphics department of any sleep. That match ended at 3.33am.The Williams sisters were back in action at the US Open this year. Serena and Venus suffered defeat following a three-hour battle against Maya Joint and Chan Hao-ching in their first-round doubles matchup at the Grand Slam on Friday night.In the wake of the loss, the 23-time Grand Slam champion wasn’t sticking around to savor her return to Flushing Meadows.Serena ‘fled the scene’ leaving her sister and playing partner behind, according to tennis insider Ben Rothenberg.She reportedly walked off the Arthur Ashe court, out of the stadium and straight into a car that was waiting to whisk her away into the New York City night.In her haste to escape, Serena is said to have ditched Venus, who had headed to the locker room post-match, as is customary for players.What’s more, Rothenberg reported that Venus may have been amenable to speaking to the media but instead, Serena’s hasty exit saw the duo skip post-match press.The superstar siblings were obligated to speak to the press following their grueling showdown against Joint and Chan after multiple members of the media requested them. However, tournament officials opted against fining either of the fabulously wealthy tennis legends.