The son of Madrid Open owner Ion Tiriac has hit back at Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian after he called Tiriac a "racist sexist clown".
Following Williams' dominant display against Simona Halep to advance to her 40th Grand Slam semi-final, Ohanian hit back at Tiriac after the former tennis player criticised his wife late last year.
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"At this age and the weight she is now, she does not move as easily as she did 15 years ago," the former player said.
"Serena was a sensational player. If she had a little decency, she would retire."
Despite the comments being made last year, Ohanian felt the need to call out Tiriac, when he tweeted.
"Good thing no one listens to that racist sexist (clown) Tiriac," he tweeted.
https://twitter.com/AlexandruTiriac/status/1361688471732170757?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In response, Tiriac's son Alexandru posted a letter to Williams' husband amid ongoing criticism from fans who questioned Tiriac's claim that he had "tremendous respect" for the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
Wiliams' mobility has improved immensely since last year after ankle and Achilles problems hampered her campaign. Her coach Patrick Mouratoglou said her improved movement was due to lessening her workload last year.
"It's a bit of a vicious circle because when you can't practice well, you don't get fit. When you're not fit, you get more injured. We had to get out of this vicious circle," Mouratoglou said.
"In Roland Garros she had an injury that could get really worse, and that would have been extremely bad. That was definitely the right decision to stop, to heal, and to start working hard because she was able after that to do the necessary work in order to get fit.
"Now we're more in a virtuous circle than a vicious one. You have to start that virtuous circle by being fit, then everything goes better."
Serena's ageless performance, in combination with her husbands outraged tweet, prompted the following response from Tiric junior, which you can read in full below:
"To Mrs. Williams' husband,
I read your tweet with a mix of disbelief and disgust.
The name Țiriac has a 70-year tradition in the world of sports and the gentleman you are referring to has written a few important chapters that have contributed to the book of tennis along these decades.
From the player, to the coach, to the manager, to the tournament promoter, the respected person you are bad wording in these derogatory terms has and still is, at the age of 82, one of the strongest advocates of this sport.
The respect he has (Ion Țiriac) for Mrs. Williams is tremendous, as it should be.
She is and will remain in history as one of the best 20-25 players who have highly contributed to this sport.
She has a personality that has opened many doors for young generations of athletes, in all fields of sports and in all social walks of life. For that, we are very grateful to her.
Mr. Williams, the only reason I reply to your unnecessary tweet is that words are misused and misinterpreted in today's world through the various platforms in existence.
Free speech should not be wrongly replaced with inappropriate slander.
In my humble opinion, and to use a well-known quote, "with great power comes great responsibility."
As Mrs. Williams' husband, you can no longer only represent your own views when you talk about sports, but also the voice of an icon.
It would be a real shame to cast an erroneous image on her legacy through emotional baseless tweets.
I hope that through these few sentences I can bring some wisdom to your future misguided public declarations, and maybe some due respect to a self-made man who is a true lover and lifelong contributor to this sport.
Congratulations to Serena, very well deserved, keep going forward and writing history in such a wonderful career.
Alexandru Tiriac."
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