It is never a good night for a tennis player when she is heard telling a line judge: “I swear to God, I’m fuckin’ takin’ this ball and shovin’ it in your fuckin’ throat … I swear to God.” Then has to deny that she threatened to kill the line judge. It was so bad that even John McEnroe said it was inexcusable.
But that’s what happened to Serena Williams in a bizarre end at the U.S. Open women’s semis, when Williams was called for a foot fault down 15-30 to Kim Clijsters and down to match game. The fault made it 15-40 in Clijsters’ favor, then she was awarded match point when tournament referee Brian Earley penalized Williams for abusive language towards the line judge. (Williams had gotten a warning earlier for smashing her racket).
By some accounts, the foot fault was a tough call to make in those circumstances. But bizarrely, this is what Williams said about the foot fault in her post-march interview:
“I’m pretty sure I did,” she said. “If she called a foot fault, she must have seen a foot fault. I mean, she was doing her job. I’m not going to knock her for not doing her job.”
Then why did Williams from act like a raging ass, yelling at the hapless line judge, turning back to play, then changing her mind and berating the judge again using multiple f-bombs, according to reporters at courtside? Chris Chase of Yahoo has a theory:
The explosive end is sure to obscure the fact that Serena probably would have lost the match without the foot fault. Clijsters was playing great and Serena couldn’t win a point on her second serve. The end was coming, Serena’s outburst merely hastened its arrival. Maybe that was the point.
I am not a tennis buff, so would love to hear what you fans think of the call and of Williams’ meltdown.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Absolutely piss-poor call. The foot fault has to be clear, and that line judge should be canned. Obviously, someone told her “when in doubt, call it out” and she took it to heart. I’m sure Serena is embarrassed, and she was rightfully assessed a point penalty, and I’m sure a big fine is coming her way. But that line judge changed the match on a questionable call - she’s the Steve Bartman of 2009. And to say Serena would have lost the match anyway is bogus. She’s dug out of matches like this throughout her career, and the only way to know whether she would have escaped would have been to play it out.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Will,
Perhaps you didn’t listen to Serena’s post match news conference in which she makes it clear she probably foot faulted and that the line judge was doing their job and saw a foot fault. Why the poor disposition toward the line judge?
“She should be “canned.”
“Obviously, someone told her . . .”
“She’s the Steve Bartman of 2009.”
The issue was not the call. The issue was Ms. William’s behavior and the threat. In any sport, given such a threat to an official, the player is “ejected.”
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Williams got exactly what she deserved. She has never had any class on or off the courts. My only regret is that Clijsters did not have the opportunity to put the match away which she was going to do, as she was simply out playing Williams.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 9:51 am
You can take a thug from out of the projects…… but once a thug always a thug.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 9:51 am
As bad of a call, that may have been, you never ever let yourself get to that level. Serena is really strong and is good at defeat, but this was just bizarre. Maybe some good will come out of this, like readdressing line judges and what they are responsible for. Who knows!!! Poor Kim!
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Serena’s been foot faulting all tournament so it wouldn’t be surprising if she had foot faulted at that point. And after only winning 6 points on her 2nd serve all set there’s a good chance that she was trying to put a little extra on it down 15-30 and pushed forward more than normal and slid her toe onto the line. Not sure why the only camera angle they show is the only one that is inconclusive. They used to have a camera right on the baseline but got rid of it when the Hawkeye system came in. That would have shown it clearly. So would almost any camera angle from her front but you can’t tell at all from behind. She’s been getting a couple a match so very bad timing, but not necessarily a bad call. If it’s a fault it should be called. Doesn’t matter who the player is or how important the point is. It’s a simple rule and very easy to avoid.
With her reaction they had no choice but to give her a point penalty. Unfortunate to see it happen like this but you can’t go off on a line judge like that and not get a conduct violation, which in this case was her second violation so it’s an automatic point penalty. Just happened to be on match point. The officials didn’t do anything incorrectly. We’ll never know now, but with Williams winning less than 30% of points on her second serve in that set Clijsters looked good to break that game and take the match without Serena’s breakdown.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Remember, Serena the brat had already emerged before this climactic incident. Seems like she had it in her head that she was going to blow by Clijsters and waltz to another Grand Slam title.
I feel bad for Kim. Although not a certainty, it looked like she was going to win the second set based on her solid play and Serena having an off night. Serena was making a lot of unforced errors.
If the tennis association has the balls to suspend or heavily fine Serena, look for her to figure out a way to punish them back by not appearing at expected tour events, etc. It’s always been her way when she’s mad at someone. Though Serena is clearly the best female tennis player, she’s a prima donna brat. We just saw the most extreme version of it last night.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 10:24 am
TL
Why the racist comment? What’s the point? It takes a lot of discipline and work to achieve what the Williams sisters have done, Serena’s behavior aside but you want to bring it down to this?
In stead of learning anything new, interesting, or informative, from a forum like this, this is what we get from one of America’s citizens.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Deplorable behavior aside, I was laughing my ass off at the cowardly judge running her scared ass off as soon as Serena turned back to her.
Sprint, frumpy thing, sprint!
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Lucrece
Judge was not cowardly. The judge was doing her job for which you obviously have no respect. And since she was being threatened what would you expect her to do? Pick a fight with Serena Williams. By the way it is very possible she was being called over by the Umpire to explain what was being said to her.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 11:46 am
that judge made the WRONG call, the replays show it, and she deserved a tongue lashing! Did Serena go overboard? Absolutely, I mean you can’t predict or control divas- that’s what makes them divas! Serena, you go ahead and go off! I got yo back, girl!
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 11:50 am
David:
I am a fan of Serena, but she was out of line. I think she probably deserved to be defaulted from the match even if she hadn’t been assessed a prior code violation. You do that in football/baseball, you aren’t going to get a code violation before you’re shown the door. But there are two issues here. The call and the tirade. The tirade was dealt with appropriately. Regarding the call, there is no review mechanism for footfaults as there is for an out ball and unless it’s crystal clear, don’t call it. Regarding the post-match interview, which I did watch, I don’t give much credence to what was said - I think Serena was trying to save face and show some calmness to counterbalance the ugliness she exhibited a few minutes earlier. And justifying her behavior by saying she grew up as a fan of John McEnroe? Come on, now. Mary Carillo was right - that was a good acting job.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
David- I wasn’t suggesting the frumpy thing go taking on the Amazonian diva. Just have some dignity, keep her cool.
You could see the judge was going to sit back in her chair; and as she was about to reach her sit and get down, Serena turned toward her with a sassy demeanor, and the judge went running, scared shitless toward the referee. I’m just pointing out the amusing picture it painted, with the judge looking like some scared child running towards mommy to tell.
I’m just saying it was funny, the poor thing. Serena clearly gave her the frights.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
First of all, it was a lousy call. Serena probably did foot fault, but foot faulting is rampant in tennis. It’s usually far more egregious and does not get called, especially at such a crucial point. So Serena had every reason to be furious. Her behavior from then on, though, was completely unprofessional and unforgiveable. It was a lousy way for the match to end, and I feel bad that Kim didn’t get the opportunity to close the match out, but the point penalty was completely appropriate. Serena had one more chance to save some face in the news conference, but her answers were disingenuous to the point of dishonesty.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I fully believe that the world’s greatest tennis pro knew exactly what she was doing when she lobbed her verbal grenades. You can’t get that far without knowing what the line is that separates acceptable and unacceptable behavior. She knew where that line was, and overshot it big time.
So this way she really didn’t technically LOSE, she just sort of defaulted, and everyone knows she would have won if…
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Will,
I bet if you have kids they are total brats. Elite athletes like Williams and Tiger Woods need to realize they do not have a right to act like screaming idiots when they hit a poor shot or don’t win.
Can you imagine Jack Nicklaus or Chrissy Everett ever acting like Williams or Woods. We have lost something because these superstars have been allowed to call their own shots.
Whenever Williams or Woods (or any other athlete) drop the “F” bomb during a tournament, they should be fined and suspended for the rest of the season and they would stop.
The real problem here is parents and junior sport coaches see this type of conduct and determine that if is OK for the best in the world to act like this, they can too. Wrong!
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Is pond scum at the top of the pond or at the bottom?
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
What she did was wrong and I am disappointed that she did not apologise properly. But I am tired of Mary Carillo harping on a suspension. Serena should not be the only one put infront of the lynch mob. Remember Zvonareva? What…is she too white and too pretty? They are a bunch of self righteous hypocrites. Mary Carillo was a mediocre player and a closeted racist.
Serena however needs to grow up but enough is enough. I think the embarrassment, the hefty fine and the stain on her legacy is enough. This is a profound disgrace.
From this point onward though, they should have stiffer penalties for all players who do not conduct themselves properly. I feel sad that Serena disgraced her race like this. Now we have all the uneducated redneck coming out of the woodwork call her a ‘thug’. In effect, it is a generalisation to all blacks.
It is sad.
on Sep 13th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Jon:
Please reread my posts. I did not defend Serena or condone her actions and I don’t appreciate the personal attack. There were two people who screwed up last night. Serena and the linesperson. I strongly believe the linesperson should be held accountable (yes, canned) for making a very poor call (a piss poor call). If you saw the Djokovic (sp) match today, you would have seen that he challenged six calls and was correct five times. That means there were at least five errors by the line judges that were challenged and corrected. There is no mechanism for challenging foot faults, and to call one that was not absolutely clear was a wrong call.
on Sep 14th, 2009 at 8:14 am
I’ve never liked the Williams sisters anyway. Great athletes, but way too much arrogance! In any event, I think the line judge was wrong to call a foot fault at such a critical juncture in a major match…whether or not Serena actually did it. Calling a ball in or out is one thing, but touching the service line with a foot is another. I referee basketball, and there have been many times that I could have called some benign foul or technical on a player or coach near the end of a close important game, but let it go. I just don’t think its right for an official to affect the outcome by “sticking to the book” when a little discretion is needed. I think the line judge in this case would have been better off stayin silent, and let Serena lose the match the old fashioned way.
on Sep 14th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
It may have taken awhile, but here’s what is being said Monday by serena…
Sad it had to happen in the first place, but glad she is getting a clue that she needed to be more concilatory…this is from her website…
“Hey guys!!!
I want to amend my press statement of yesterday, and want to make it clear as possible - I want to sincerely apologize FIRST to the lines woman, Kim Clijsters, the USTA, and tennis fans everywhere for my inappropriate outburst. I’m a woman of great pride, faith and integrity, and I admit when I’m wrong.
I need to make it clear to all young people that I handled myself inappropriately and it’s not the way to act — win or lose, good call or bad call in any sport, in any manner.
I like to lead by example. We all learn from experiences both good and bad. I will learn and grow from this, and be a better person as a result.
Xxxx,
S
on Sep 14th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
There have been a number of people, in the stands that night, and in direct sight of the base-line, that say they saw a foot fault. Serena says it was likely she foot-faulted. I think it was a little silly that the lines-person would call one so close to the end of a huge match. That said, the lines-person was doing her job, and no player has the right to make physical threats against the employees of a tour evernt…..period. I don’t mean just arguing, I mean threats of physical harm. That cannot be allowed. On the subject of Clijsters and the likely outcome of the match; it was obvious Serena was being out-played. Even if Serena had managed to get to a tie-breaker, and managed to win it, she looked very tired compared with Kim, and would surely have lost the match. It was obvious to me that she already knew that, and had mentally accepted that. Her frustration was understandable, but her behavior was unexcuseable, as was her lack of remorse afterwards.
on Sep 14th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
The lack of personal responsiblity for unsportsmenlike behavior is the unfortunate part of this scenario. But, if you people who are lobbing racial, ethnic and class criticisms think you are advancing our society, you are sadly mistaken. When people who are different from you, are so harshly criticized for being themselves(which has been the Williams sisters experience throughout their career) they will not easily confess their mistakes. Why? Who wants to be the butt of ugly jokes and comments which are totally inappropriate and unrelated? Whether you think the Williams sisters had a right to emerge as major champions or not, because they came from a different background and culture is not the issue here. You should try to temper your bigotry and perhaps Serena can try to temper her bad behavior.
on Sep 14th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
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on Sep 15th, 2009 at 11:57 am
foot faulting all tournament? it was the 2nd one called on her for the entire tournament, and the first 2 of the entire year. foot faults are called to protect the returner from an obvious advantage. if someone’s toe nicks the line, then a foot fault shouldn’t be called, especially THAT close to match point. if a serve and volleyer is stepping into the court and moving forward, then s/he has an obvious advantage.
serena certainly didn’t handle herself well, but the only reason she said she may have foot faulted was to make it seem like a sincere apology. the replay makes it fairly clear that she didn’t foot fault, and the lines judge should have known better.
on Sep 16th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I think what Serena said was wrong but it was justified. I think the referee was getting paid to make those bad calls on Serena. I think that she should never call a tennis game again. So what happens to the referee. What type of disipline does she get. I think she should be investigated. Referees are human too.