Lewis Hamilton defends Serena Williams after her US Open rant

Lewis Hamilton has taken to Instagram to defend Serena Williams after her outburst towards the umpire in her US Open final defeat to Naomi Osaka on Saturday, calling her the greatest of all time and giving her his backing in the incident.

Williams was penalised by the umpire for receiving coaching during the match, a decision which caused her to smash her racquet in anger and launch into a tirade and claiming she was a victim of sexism.

Many commenters questioned Hamilton's decision to post the incident (see below), branding Wiliams' behaviour as petulant and not becoming of a grand slam champion.

You can see footage of Williams' rant against the umpire below.

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Repost @alexisohanian This woman is one of the greatest Athletes of all time. I’m so proud of you @serenawilliams and inspired by your greatness, your humility and your fight against all odds. God Bless you guys??????????

A post shared by Lewis Hamilton (@lewishamilton) on Sep 7, 2018 at 9:08am PDT