Kelly Rowland is speaking out about Serena Williams‘ controversial U.S. Open women’s singles final match earlier this month — which she watched from the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams, 36, lost the U.S. Open championship match to Naomi Osaka, 20, after receiving a total of three violations from the chair umpire — for illegal coaching, breaking her racket and verbal abuse. Williams has since suggested that the umpire’s actions were “sexist.”
“You definitely can’t go back in time,” Williams said at a press conference after the Sept. 8 match, “but I can’t sit here and say I wouldn’t say he’s a thief because I thought he took a game from me. But I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things.”
Rowland, 37, says she was glad to watch her friend “speak up for herself.”
“I watched her interview afterwards,” Rowland tells PEOPLE at T.J. Maxx’s Maxx You event in New York this week. “Just knowing that she’s put in this position to fight for women’s rights and equality and she’s not afraid of that position.”
“I do believe to whom much is given, much is required,” Rowland continues. “And she’s not afraid of that. She’s ready to fight the fight and I’ll be there to fight with her.”
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Rowland also posted a statement of support on Instagram after the match, writing alongside an image of the athlete, “SERENA!!! CLASS ACT!! ALWAYS A CHAMPION!!!!
I❤️YOU!!! WE ALL ❤️YOU!!! (The Ump was a weak soul, what a double standard!!!!) #BS.”
Other celebrities — including tennis legend Billie Jean King, basketball stars Steph Curry and Lebron James, and soccer icon Abby Wombach — stood up for Williams in the days after the match.
“She’s the best in the world, so she’s going to get scrutinized the most; she’s a woman of color; she’s a woman; [and] she’s just coming back from having a baby,” Wambach told PEOPLE recently.
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“She is a literal walking, breathing science experiment at how the world relates to people that are perceived as less than or marginalized,” Wambach continued. “What Serena got herself into, and what the world has witnessed, and what this guy, this umpire, has put out into the universe was just a microcosm of what’s been happening in our culture.”
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