Australian cartoonist Mark Knight has defended his depiction of tennis star Serena Williams at the US Open finals, rejecting allegations that his artwork is "racist."
The cartoon was published on Monday in the Herald Sun, a Melbourne-based conservative tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, and portrayed Williams' outburst during the game in which she was defeated by Japan's Naomi Osaka.
Williams was given three code violations: for receiving coaching signals; for breaking her racquet; and for calling the chair umpire a "thief."
Knight's cartoon showed Williams furiously stamping on her racquet with a baby soother on the ground and the umpire telling Osaka, "Can you just let her win?"
The cartoon was heavily criticized on social media as racist and sexist.
"I would say delete this, but this display of racism is so blatant in the year 2018 that it belongs in a museum to raise awareness to future generations about what African-Americans are going through today," said Eugene Gu, a medical doctor, on Twitter.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling 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."
Knight on Tuesday defended his cartoon, saying it was only about the "tantrum" Williams displayed during the finals.
"I saw the world number one tennis player have a huge hissy fit and spit the dummy. That's what the cartoon was about, her poor behaviour on the court," he told Australian broadcaster ABC.
"Nothing to do about gender or racism at all."