JK Rowling condemns 'racist and sexist' cartoon of Serena Williams at US Open

Within minutes, the post had received more than 15,000 retweets

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has condemned a cartoon of Serena Williams at the US Open as “racist and sexist”.

Mark Knight’s cartoon, which appeared in Australian newspaper Herald Sun, depicted the tennis star throwing a tantrum as a smashed racket and dummy lay on the court during the final against Naomi Osaka.

Williams’ opponent is pictured as white and blonde despite her Japanese and Haitian heritage. The 20-year-old is seen reasoning politely with the umpire Carlos Ramos who asks, “Can you just let her win?”

Osaka went on claim a Grand Slam title after Williams’ on-court meltdown

JK Rowling, who has campaigned fiercely against bullying, criticised Knight after seeing the image of the sportswoman.

“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,” she tweeted.

Within minutes, the post had received more than 15,000 retweets, with scores of her 14.4 million followers expressing that they shared the same stance on the issue.

“I’m not sure what is worse the portrayal of Serena or whitewashing Osaka. This is disgusting,” one person said.

Another wrote: ‘How did a mainstream outlet publish something so offensive?’

But not everyone agreed with Rowling. Some people argued that the image was accurate because of the behaviour Williams – who was fined $17,000 for three separate violations during the US Open final – exhibited. She called Ramos a “liar” and a “thief” and claimed that she was treated differently than male tennis players.

One commenter said Williams didn’t deserve all the media attention, writing: “This is ridiculous. This judge wouldn’t take her bad behaviour and she turned it into a female rights issue. The poor women who won couldn’t enjoy a monumental victory because Serena hijacked her moment. Worked her entire life for that moment and Serena made it her own.’

This is not the first time Rowling has come to the US athlete’s defence.

In 2015, the Scottish author lambasted a troll who claimed that the only reason that Williams was successful was because “she is built like a man”.

“Yeah, my husband looks just like this in a dress. You’re an idiot” she responded alongside two pictures of Williams in a figure-hugging red dress.