Ouch! Serena and Venus Williams are Referred to as the "Williams Brothers" by Russian Tennis Chief

Tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams were the subject of a not so funny "joke" last week when one of the top tennis officials, a Russian tennis chief said the sisters were "scary to look at" and called them the "Williams brothers."

Shamil Tarpischev, of the Russian Tennis Federation, made the remarks during an appearance on a local TV talk show. His comments were, "It's scary when you really look at them (referring to Venus and Serena)."

Tarpischev claimed he was joking and that his words were taken out of context but Serena wasn't laughing. She said the comments were insensitive, extremely sexist, racist and bullying (watch the video below).

Serena spoke out and said, "I thought his comments were very insensitive, I thought they were extremely sexist as well as racist at the same time. I thought they were, in a way, bullying..." 

The Women’s Tennis Association took immediate action and Tarpischev was suspended for one year and levied a $25,000 fine, the maximum allowed. 

Shamil Tarpischev

Tarpischev said, "I am sorry that the joke which was translated into English out of its context of a comedy show drew so much attention. I don’t think this situation is worth all the hoopla because those words were said without any malice."

He didn't really apologize to Serena and Venus, did he? He just apologized for the fact that his comments were taken out of context. He didn't own up for what he said. 

So I'm guessing Tarpischev realized his previous statement wasn't an apology and over the weekend he decided to do a full apology through an open letter.

"While my intention was to make a small joke, I realise now that what I said was inappropriate in any context," the letter below reads.

Shamil Tarpischev, the President of the Russian Tennis Federation, apologizes to Serena and Venus Williams - open letter via Yahoo! Sport

Thoughts?