Serena Williams keen to move on from US Open row but insists women are treated differently to men

Former world No 1 confused by coach's admission that he was coaching, which was the code violation that sparked the controversy

Serena Williams has said she is trying to "move on" from the row that dominated the US Open final, but the former world No 1 maintains that female players are treated differently to their male counterparts.

The 23-time grand slam champion lost the New York final in straight sets to Japan's Naomi Osaka after a fiery confrontation with chair umpire Carlos Ramos that she later blamed on sexism.

Williams called Ramos a "thief" and a "liar" in a running row with the Portuguese official that eventually saw her docked a game.

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In an interview with Australia's Channel Ten, the 36-year-old American said a male player would not have been treated the same way. She said women could not get away with "even half of what a guy can do".

"Right now we are not, as it's proven, in that same position," she said in an interview that aired late Sunday.

"But that's neither here nor there. I'm just trying most of all to recover from that and move on."

Williams said she felt "on the cusp of this amazing moment" before the 6-2, 6-4 loss to Osaka.

A win would have taken her to 24 grand slams, equalling Australian Margaret Court's all-time record.

The dispute with Ramos began when Williams was issued a warning for coaching, something her coach sitting in the player's box, Patrick Mouratoglou, admitted to doing.

Williams said she had not seen the Frenchman make a gesture and labelled his subsequent admission "a really confusing moment".

"I asked him 'what are you talking about you were coaching?'," she said.

"We don't have signals, we've never had signals. He said he made a motion, and I said 'OK so you made a motion and now you're telling people you were coaching me?'.

"That doesn't make sense. Why would you say that?"

Updated: September 24, 2018, 4:43 AM