Posted on 09/13/2009 4:56:25 AM PDT by SkyPilot
Serena Williams, of the United States, argues with a line judge over a foot fault call during her match against Kim Clijsters, of Belgium, at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009. Clijsters beat Williams in 2 sets. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
NEW YORK -- Serena Williams walked toward the line judge, screaming, cursing and shaking a ball in the official's direction, threatening to "shove it down" her throat.
On match point in the U.S. Open semifinals Saturday night, defending champion Williams was penalized a point for unsportsmanlike conduct -- a bizarre, ugly finish that gave a 6-4, 7-5 upset victory to unseeded, unranked Kim Clijsters.
The match featured plenty of powerful groundstrokes and lengthy exchanges. No one will remember a single shot that was struck, though, because of the unusual, dramatic way it ended.
With Williams serving at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set, she faulted on her first serve. On the second serve, a line judge called a foot fault, making it a double-fault -- a call rarely, if ever, seen at that stage of any match, let alone the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
That made the score 15-40, putting Clijsters one point from victory.
Instead of stepping to the baseline to serve again, Williams went over and shouted and cursed at the line judge, pointing at her and thrusting the ball toward her.
"If I could, I would take this ... ball and shove it down your ... throat," Williams said.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktvu.com ...
You said it all my friend. This statement you made about sportsmanship has to be declared and taught to every young sportsman in the country.
You provided a link about the foot fault rule - but did you read it first?
Your link says:
“The server must stand behind the baseline, between the centre mark and the sideline.
A ‘foot fault’ is called if any of the following happens before the ball is struck:
# The feet touch the ground inside the baseline
# The feet touch the wrong side of the centre mark OR
# The feet touch the wrong side of the imaginary extension of the sideline.
A foot fault is the same as a fault on a serve so the player is given the chance of a second serve.”
?? It says “inside the baseline, not “on” the baseline. That;s a bit odd. It should mention “touching” the baseline, but it doesn’t. And no mention of “flagrant” either.
Another ‘view’ of the matter that I consider reasonable (from NY Times article today):
__________________—
Carol Cox, a veteran tennis official who evaluates linesmen and referees for the United States Tennis Association, said that there were two schools of thought on making a foot-fault call at a critical juncture in the match.
One philosophy is that it is a rule, and you call it when you see it, Cox said. The second way of thinking is more in line with a good N.B.A. official: you dont make a call that can decide a match unless its flagrant.
John McEnroe had a similar view to the N.B.A. comparison when he was commenting on the CBS broadcast on Saturday night, You cant call that there.
Did Serena Williams violate the foot fault rule ? Honestly I don’t know. All we have is the official’s ruling and the testimony of others who looked at the replay from all angles. Most of what I read (with a minority disagreeing) say that IT WAS INDEED A FOOT FAULT.
All I know is that Serena should not have lost her composure. THAT was what caused this unfortunate ending.
Kim Clijsters clearly did not want to win this way.
However, what’s done is done, Serena cannot undo what she did, all she can do is learn her lesson and move on.
Another excerpt from the story, referring to a match (that I happened to see) with Marat Safin:
“Serena Williams is not the first player to become enraged at being called for a foot fault. Marat Safin, at the Cincinnati Masters in 2008, had an extended stand-off with the chair umpire over a foot fault. He went on to lose the game to Dmitry Tursunov, prompting him to send his racket skidding across the court and resume his argument with the umpire...”
Serena's lousy attitude (if not criminal behavior) had consequences. Tough luck girl. You should have known better.
I would have voted Arthur Ashe for president.
My gosh.
We’ve sure come a long way from the traditional pastel tennis outfits in Chris Evert’s day...
She is doing OK for herself. The Shark has a yacht that would put 99.99999% of the mansions in the world to shame.
Anyway, I always liked her.
Back in 1976:
I'm a past member of the USLTA and I've been in the chair as an official and called lines in men's matches. There have been players like Nastase who used the occasional blow up as a way to try and distract an opponent, to 'put them off when they were in a groove.' What the Williams female did was not for 'gamesmanship', it was outright vulgar thuggishness. That ml/nj wants to diminish that to something so so is telling of ml/nj.
If I had been in that chair position, the match would have eneded that very moment when the Willaims thug went out of control. And in the past, the USLTA would have suspended her from play for several tournaments, perhaps a year or more, until she could control her rage. She is an insult to the honor of the game when she does not control herself.
ML/NJ
Is she related to that South African runner??
/s
That is a sweet pic of Greg’s widdle ole boat, BTW.
News reports today indicate she was fined $10,000 and allowed to continue play.
Some pros remarked the line judge was too late in making the call, but IMHO, a litany of liability falls on Serena and little to none on the line judge.
(Would you want to buy a racket from a manufacturer which Serena smashes into a million pieces on the court?)
There was a time when I considered Serena to be the sane Williams sister, and cheered for her to do well. Apparently her racist father and racist sister have finally rubbed off on her. Either that, or she did a much better job of hiding it previously.
$10,000 isn't even ten bucks to her. It isn't even a handbag. It might be a pair of shoes.
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