Posted on 09/13/2009 3:38:59 PM PDT by traumer
This was the dramatic moment when Serena Williams screamed her way out of the U.S. Open.
TV viewers around the world saw the irate Wimbledon champion launch a threatening, profanity-laced tirade at a female line judge after being called for a foot fault.
'If I could, I would take this f****** ball and shove it down your f****** throat,' she reportedly said.
The diminutive lineswoman reported her words to the umpire, who called in the tournament referee at Flushing Meadows in New York.
With the crowd booing, Miss Williams could be heard on the court microphone pleading with the lineswoman, saying: 'I didn't say I would kill you. Are you serious? I didn't say that.'
But her extraordinary outburst meant she was docked a point on match point, handing a semi-final victory to bemused Belgian opponent Kim Clijsters in one of the ugliest-ever endings to a major sports match.
Miss Williams had already received a warning for smashing a racquet, so the next sanction was a penalty point for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Not since John McEnroe was defaulted in the Australian Open in 1990 for swearing at the umpire has a top player made such an ignominious exit from such a high-profile match.
It happened when, with the 27-year-old American serving at 5-6 and 15-30 in the second set, she faulted on her first serve.
On her second serve, the line judge declared a foot fault, a call rarely, if ever, seen at that stage of a match.
That made the score 15-40, putting Miss Clijsters one point from a place in the final.
Miss Williams stormed over to the line judge, cursing and shaking her racquet, pointing at her and thrusting a ball in her face.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Williams was having a bad day. She was losing a match she should have been winning. She had been previously warned about her behavior. Yet, she cursed & threatened the line judge. The spectators were booing her behavior.
Why would the line judge risk their livelihood (cameras everywhere, you know) by making a bogus foot fault call, when Williams was losing anyway? And didn't the tournament referee (not an Asian) assess the final penalty causing the match loss?
There was no racism here, only a rattled Williams who made a foot fault & then a mouth fault.
Asians are liberal?
NEVER RELAX
The call — foot-fault - is made so rarely that the networks don't even think about putting a camera to cover the line. Entire tournaments go by without a single foot-fault call in any match.
That;s why the line judge should have NEVER made that call unless it was an egregious foot-all-over-the-line situation, which it was not.
Eh, with Mac you always knew it was schtick. Williams was deadly serious.
My fantasy:
WILLIAMS: I ought to kill you!
LINE JUDGE [Jumping up, unstrapping a .45]: Bring it on, sister!
“I despise that this incredible conservative website is often hi-jacked by those “separated at birth”, Mike Tyson, Michelle Obama, and other racially charged comments.”
I agree wholeheartedly — you’re absolutely right.
Uh, he wasn’t speaking for all Asians. He said so right there in the post.
There were two in this match, I suspect both called by the same judge. Her last name came out today, BTW.
I don't know about Serena being foot-faulted in any earlier match. It's a very unusual call.
Marat Safin got called for a foot-fault in Cincinnati in 2008 and flipped out too.
There were two in this match, I suspect both called by the same judge. Her last name came out today, BTW.
I don't know about Serena being foot-faulted in any earlier match. It's a very unusual call.
Marat Safin got called for a foot-fault in Cincinnati in 2008 and flipped out too.
Say what? You gotta be kidding!!
And we have raised the bar even higher and shown the tennis world America at her Williams best. Yep, the world loves Americans, now more than ever.
1941 movie,They Died with their Boots On, Hattie McDaniel told Olivia de Havilland ,”Now don’t be getting uppity on me, Miss Libby”.
I wonder about that. Why do so many men use it too, even in front of women and children?
Exactly. Who is the tennis star, used to being in the spotlight, dealing with all sorts of things and almost always with the cameras watching and peoples' judgments at the ready? She should have known better and acted better.
I don't know what kind of person she is, but I do know what I saw...a classless athlete living down to the worst stereotypes associated with athletes. Thanks for representing America, Serena. Nice job.
Besides, you can’t possibly be thinking that threatening to shove a ball down some smaller woman’s throat is NOT a big deal?
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Again, given the circumstance, NO, I don’t think it’s a big deal. I know, Tennis is not ice hockey or football, nor am I condoning such things - but are these big league tennis judges that fragile? Do they really need to open a grand investigation???
Most asians are liberals. On economic and national security issues. Social issues, they are not quite the liberals. However, they fall for the “tolerance” crap.
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