An Australian cartoonist has come under withering criticism for portraying tennis star Serena Williams using what some critics described as "racist and sexist tropes".
Mark Knight's caricature, published in Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper yesterday, shows a butch and fat-lipped Williams jumping up and down on her broken racquet at the US Open.
Ms Williams' heated exchanges with an umpire at the tournament final this week have stirred the tennis world.
She was found guilty of code violations and fined US$17,000, raising allegations that there were double standards for male and female players.
Ms Williams was thwarted in her bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles crown in losing to Japan's Naomi Osaka.
In the cartoon the umpire is seen saying to Ms Osaka "can't you just let her win?".
Mr Knight, who has a reputation for controversial cartoons, was pilloried from far and wide.
This included a member of the US Congress and a large portion of the 22,000 people who commented on his Twitter post showing the drawing.
The detractors also included author JK Rowling, who said: "Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop."
Mr Knight responded to the criticism by pointing out that he had drawn an unflattering portrayal of Australian male tennis star Nick Kyrgios "behaving badly".
"Don't bring gender into it when it's all about behaviour," he said.
Criticism of Mark Knight's Serena Williams cartoon shows the world has gone too PC & misunderstands the role of news media cartoons and satire. Poor behaviour in any sport needs to be called out. #media #cartoons #markknight @Knightcartoons @theheraldsun https://t.co/KQFuvIJp0Q pic.twitter.com/sRo3AQ1cJW
— Michael Miller (@mm_newscorpaus) September 10, 2018
Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, which publishes the Melbourne's Herald Sun, defended his cartoonist.
"Criticism of Mark Knight's Serena Williams cartoon shows the world has gone too PC & misunderstands the role of news media cartoons and satire," he said.
The Washington Post ran a searing post about Mr Knight's cartoon, calling it "racist" and reminiscent of the era of racial segregation in the United States.
"Knight draws facial features reflecting the dehumanizing Jim Crow caricatures so common in the 19th and 20th centuries," commentator Michael Cavna wrote.
Other US media pointed out that Ms Osaka was portrayed as petite and feminine with jet blonde straight hair. In real life she has dark curly hair with blonde streaks and is taller than Ms Williams.
Australia is a highly multicultural country, but also sees frequent public dust-ups about the use of racially and sexually loaded language.
Ms William's loss cost her a chance to equal Australian Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
During the match she was given three code violations by Carlos Ramos -- the first for receiving coaching, the second for racquet abuse and the third for verbal abuse of the umpire.
The second and third violations earned her a point penalty and then a game penalty, giving Ms Osaka a 5-3 second-set lead that effectively gifted her the title.
