What Serena Williams Actually Said
The facts surrounding the meltdown are undisputed. Serena Williams, the defending U.S. Open champion and WTA No. 2 player, was called for a foot fault on second serve at 5-6, 15-30, in the second set of her semifinal match against former WTA No. 1 player, Kim Clijsters. As a consequence of dropping the first set 4-6, this foot fault by Serena Williams gave Kim Clijsters a double match point, 6-4, 6-5 (40-15). A visibly upset Serena Williams, displeased with the call, then released a screaming tirade on the baseline judge: "I swear to God I'll fucking take this ball and shove it down your fucking throat! Do you hear me? I swear to God. You better be glad--you better be fucking glad that I'm not, I swear." Stirred by Serena Williams' feral outburst the baseline judge initially sought refuge beside the chair umpire. After Williams appeared to have calmed her anger, however, the line judge returned to her seat. But then, Serena Williams continued her meltdown and the line judge scampered back to the chair umpire--this time claiming that Williams had threatened to kill her. The chair umpire, in turn, summoned tournament referee, Brian Earley. Following a brief discussion between Earley and Williams, Earley assessed a point penalty against Serena Williams thereby resulting in a 6-4, 7-5 victory for Kim Clijsters.
In her post-match interview, Serena Williams was impenitent. In response to a question asking Williams if she regretted losing her temper, she contemptuously responded: "I haven't really thought about it to have any regrets. I try to-I've done-you know, I try not to live my life saying, I wish, I wish...." Notably, Williams also failed to offer Clijsters an appropriate apology.
A WTA suspension would give Serena Williams plenty of time to think and work on her lack of sportsmanship.
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Source(s):
The Daily Forehand, SB Nation
Serena Williams Post-Clijsters match interview transcript, ROOTZOO
Published by J.C. Grant
A writer interested in education, finance, health, history, law, music, polemics, politics, satire, sports, statistics, travel, and trivia. View profile
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15 Comments
Post a Comment'roid rage?
She acted like a spoiled potty mouth kid.
Agreed. At least a one game suspension would have been much more appropriate.
minimum 1 year suspension.
also, i hope many people pressure her sponsors to drop her.
possible lifetime ban?
physically threatening an official is BEYOND THE PALE.
let's hope there's some justice...
Rosebud: your such a twit. Bad manners is mad manners. Regardless of who you are and you should be required to shape up. If you can't do then the officials will. I remeber a few bad boys in the past and they paid for their mistakes. What is so special about Williams?
I think that what Serena did and said was uncalled for. She is supposed to be a professional and to act like that is unexcusable. She should apologize, to the line judge, Kim, the US, and she should be suspended from playing tennis anywhere until further notice. Who does she think she is????
i think they should give her the same test as the female runner definetly a testy filled tirade.
Yes it is a world stage and I am disappointed at the amount of justification appearing in comments. If someone behaved like that towards me in Australia I would be using the legal aystem and taking out an AVO. What about the poor linesperson? And what about an apology to the world's public? Her press conference showed an unrepentant player who does not accept reposibility for her behaviour. If a guest in my home spoke like that they would be shown the door. And isn't that what big sports people are guests in our homes?
I enjoyed your analysis!
Because Serena's threatening and excessively abusive remarks were aimed directly at a Lines Judge officiating for the US Open, and due to her negligence in offering no appology to the Lines Judge, to Kim Clijsters, to The US Open, to New York City, and to the public who heard and saw Serena; Serena should be banned from tennis and fined for her verbal threats of harm to the Lines Judge.