The best feminist moments from Wimbledon 2019, from Serena Williams to Johanna Konta

‘I’m a fighter and I’ll never give up’

Whether it’s Meghan Markle’s surprise appearance to watch Serena Williams take to the court, or Nick Kyrgios’ argument with the chair umpire during a defeat to Rafael Nadal, the first week of the Wimbledon Championships 2019 certainly packed a punch.

But amid the drama, losses, and A-list attendance, the sports event has also provided athletes with the perfect platform to champion women and gender equality.

Following teen tennis star Cori “Coco” Gauff’s loss following her match with former world number one Simona Halep in straight sets on Monday, the 15-year-old shed light on what she hopes spectators of Wimbledon took away from her involvement.

“I hope they learned about me - that I’m a fighter and I’ll never give up,” Gauff told reporters following the match.

Gauff’s comments came days after former first lady of the US, Michelle Obama, described the sportsperson as “terrific” on Twitter.

Ahead of the Wimbledon Championships 2019 finals this weekend, we’ve rounded up the most inspiring feminist moments from its tennis stars so far during the competition.

1) Joanna Konta calls out ‘disrespectful and patronising’ journalist

British player Konta’s lost in straight sets in the quarter finals of this year’s competition to Barbora Strycova on Tuesday.

During the post-match press conference, a journalist picked apart the athlete’s performance, suggesting that there were moments when she “could have done better” on court.

“Do you not have to look at yourself a little bit about how you cope with these big points?” the journalist asked.

After asking whether the journalist’s view was a professional tennis opinion, he said that it was as “a watching spectator with everyone else on Centre Court” willing her on.

“I don’t think you need to pick on me in a harsh way,” Konta replied.

“I think I’m very open with you guys and I say how I feel out there and if you don’t want to accept that answer or you don’t agree with it then that’s fine. But I still believe in the tennis I play and still believe in the way I competed and I don’t much have else to say to your question.”

The tennis player went onto ask the journalist not to patronise her. When he insisted he wasn’t she replied: “No, no you are. In the way you are asking your question you are being quite disrespectful and you are patronising me.

“I am a professional competitor who did her best today and that’s all there is to that.”

Britain's Johanna Konta leaves the court after losing against Czech Republic's Barbora Strycova during their women's singles quarter-final match on day eight of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 9, 2019 (Getty Images)

Several Twitter users have suggested that the journalist would not have used the same tone as he did with Konta if speaking to a male tennis player.

One user commented: “Tim henman would never have been questioned like that [sic]. Misogyny BBC. That was a vulgar display of it.”

Another added: “Seriously. Would the ‘journalist’ have asked a male competitor that question in that tone? @JohannaKonta was 100% right - it was patronising and belittling. Have some respect.”

“The question is: would he have asked those questions, in that condescending, patronising way, to a male tennis player?” asked another.

“And the answer is: no, he wouldn’t.”

2) Serena Williams describes Cori Gauff as ‘awesome’

Following Cori Gauff’s win over Venus Williams during the first week of the competition, Serena Williams spoke out about her sister’s defeat and praised the teenage champion.

“She’s pretty awesome and pretty cool,’ the 23-time Grand Slam winner said about Gauff last Tuesday.

The American teenager has spoken about how both Williams sisters have motivated her as a tennis player, prompting Serena to say that Gauff is the next generation’s go-to inspiration.

Serena Williams predicts Cori Gauff will be the next generation of tennis players' inspiration (Getty)

“Honestly, I feel honoured that I was on her wall at some point in her life,” Williams said.

“Soon she’ll be on other girls’ walls. It’s nice, because it will keep it going from the next generation to next generation.”

3) Cori Gauff wants to be remembered as a ‘fighter’

Following her defeat in the competition on Monday, Gauff sat down at a BBC press conference and said that her experience of the competition was “the best week” of her life.

“If somebody told me this three weeks ago, I probably wouldn’t believe it,” she added.

“But I think just putting in the work definitely raised my confidence because I knew how hard I worked and I knew shots I could make and what was possible.

The athlete said she also learned a lot about what it is like to work under pressure and in front of a big crowd.

Speaking of the Wimbledon spectators, Gauff added: “I hope they learned about me - that I’m a fighter and I’ll never give up.

“I hope they learned from me that anything is possible if you work hard, just continue to dream big.”

Following her appearance at Wimbledon, several celebrities including Jaden Smith and Billy Jean King tweeted to congratulate the star.

4) Andy Murray champions Serena Williams' success

The Wimbledon champion has long been a feminist ally, praising women working in the sports industry and calling out inequality during live interviews.

Ahead of his second mixed doubles match with Williams on Tuesday, Murray championed Williams for helping to push him further.

“The thing that’s impressive is after the amount of success that someone like Serena has had for such a long period, to still be out there at 8 o’clock at night, having already won in the singles and just wanting to win and being competitive,” he said.

Andy Murray says Williams' dedication to the sport is 'impressive' (Getty Images)

“That’s impressive. I don’t think people always appreciate how difficult that is to do because of what Serena and Roger [Federer] have done for such a long period.”

The tennis star also highlighted just how impressive Williams’ serve is.

“Just getting free points a lot on the serve, which isn’t always the case,” he said.

“In mixed, it makes my life at the net a lot easier.”

5) Twitter users call out TV channel's apparent sexism

During Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson match in first week of the competition, several Australian Twitter fans expressed their indignation at the television network Channel 7 choosing to cover Kyrgios’ game instead of Australian player Ashleigh Barty’s match against Saisai Zheng.

Ashleigh Barty plays at Wimbledon 2019 (Getty)

Barty is currently the world’s number one player while Kyrgios is the men’s number 43 seed, causing confusion among viewers over the network’s preference for the latter, with some seemingly accusing the channel of sexism.

One user tweeted: “Genuine question: Why is Channel 7 (7Two) broadcasting Nick Kyrgios - the world's Number Whatever male player - when at the very same time Ash Barty - the world Number 1 female player - also an Australian - is playing?

“Seven, there is something seriously wrong with your judgment.”

Another added: “Why are we watching Kyrgios when women’s number one in the world is playing? @ashbar96 @channel7 C’mon!”

Meanwhile, another stated: “So not only are we forced to watch #Kyrgios v Thompson in standard definition - a joke in 2019 - we now get only snippets of World No.1 #Barty in action at change of ends in the men’s match. Bizarre #Wimbledon coverage from @7Sport.”

The network later defended their decision on the breakfast show, Sunrise.

Sports presenter Mark Beretta argued that given the timings of the pair’s matches, the network didn’t want to stop coverage of Kyrgios’ game to switch to Barty’s mid-game.

“So what we did, we showed a bit of Ash, and the best of Ash that was happening and the best (of the other match) and we flicked between the two matches until Nick was done and then we went with Ash,” he said.

“That’s how it unfolded. And the nature of our arrangement with Wimbledon is that we can only show one match on one channel at any one time. So it was not an option to show it on two channels.”

6) Serena Williams celebrates Andy Murray’s feminist attitude

Ahead of teaming up with Andy Murray for mixed doubles in the first week of the championship, Williams said she admired her partner’s feminist stance.

Serena Williams praises her mixed doubles partner's feminist views (Getty)

“There’s so many things to be admired,” she told reporters.

“Above all, he really stands out, he really speaks up about women’s issues no matter what. You can tell he has a really strong woman in his life. I think above all that is just fantastic.”