>>A Judge claimed, the animal told her, “I will kill you”.<<
I say the whole thing on TV (sports coverage). She said “I will shove this f’ing ball down your f’ing throat!”
Not a death threat, but a threat of violence. Even McEnroe never actually threatened a judge.
She should be suspended for a LOOOONG time.
It won’t happen. Within two days there will be claims she was a victim of racism. Count on it.
I actually backed up the DVR and hit record so that I could review it over again. She told the line judge "I feel like taking this ball and shoving it down your fu**ing throat ... do you hear me? I swear to God you made me mad and (unintelligible) you ought to be fu**king glad that (something about the point) ...
"Not a death threat, but a threat of violence."
The words about killing the judge didn't come at that time (if they ever came). Serena had gone back to the baseline to serve and when the line judge got back to her chair, Serena suddenly pointed at her again, moved in her direction a few steps, repeatedly jabbed her finger at the judge and said something that didn't come through on the audio. THAT is when the little judge ran back to the net area and the tournament official said "what did she say?". THAT is when the judge reported the death threat and everyone got really concerned.
Given Serena's body language and her size as compared to the line judge, there was definitely a reason to be unnerved.