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Yes, she is.
There I said it.
Yes, she is.
Foot fault or not, she probably should have kept her together. While foot faults should probably be treated as lets, I don't know how the she can say that she can't understand how the 4-8 tall line judge could feel threatened in her post match conference. I can't believe the comments I'm hearing from people ( not here) saying how she's just being a compe or.
Not her best moment, to be sure.
But you have to give some props to Kim Clijsters. It's amazing that she could be out for a couple of years, give birth during that time, and still come back to play at an elite level relatively quickly. And it's not like she got there cheaply, having beaten both Williams sisters on her run to the Finals.
Last edited by FromWayDowntown; 09-13-2009 at 09:06 AM.
Bizarre ending to Williams' le defense at Open
By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich, Ap Tennis Writer – 27 mins ago
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.
She continued yelling at the line judge, and went back over, shaking her racket in the official's direction.
Asked in her postmatch news conference what she said to the line judge, Williams wouldn't say, replying, "What did I say? You didn't hear?"
"I've never been in a fight in my whole life, so I don't know why she would have felt threatened," Williams said with a smile.
The line judge went over to the chair umpire, and tournament referee Brian Earley joined in the conversation. With the crowd booing — making part of the dialogue inaudible — Williams then went over and said to the line judge: "Sorry, but there are a lot of people who've said way worse." Then the line judge said something to the chair umpire, and Williams responded, "I didn't say I would kill you. Are you serious? I didn't say that." The line judge replied by shaking her head and saying, "Yes."
Williams already had been give a code violation warning when she broke her racket after losing the first set. So the chair umpire now awarded a penalty point to Clijsters, ending the match.
"She was called for a foot fault, and a point later, she said something to a line umpire, and it was reported to the chair, and that resulted in a point penalty," Earley explained. "And it just happened that point penalty was match point. It was a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct."
When the ruling was announced, Williams walked around the net to the other end of the court to shake hands with a stunned Clijsters, who did not appear to understand what had happened.
"I used to have a real temper, and I've gotten a lot better," Williams said later. "So I know you don't believe me, but I used to be worse. Yes, yes, indeed."
Lost in the theatrics was Clijsters' significant accomplishment: In only her third tournament back after 2 1/2 years in retirement, the 26-year-old Belgian became the first mother to reach a Grand Slam final since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon 1980.
"The normal feelings of winning a match weren't quite there," Clijsters said. "But I think afterwards, when everything kind of sunk in a little bit and got explained to me about what happened, yeah, you kind of have to put it all in place, and then it becomes a little bit easier to understand and to kind of not celebrate, but at least have a little bit of joy after a match like that."
Clijsters hadn't competed at the U.S. Open since winning the 2005 championship. Now she will play for her second career major le Sunday against No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who beat Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-3, 6-3 in the other rain-delayed women's semifinal.
Williams came into the day having won three of the past four Grand Slam les, and 30 of her previous 31 matches at major tournaments.
She was playing fantastically at the U.S. Open, not losing a set before Saturday and having lost her serve a total of three times through five matches.
But Clijsters — who beat Williams' older sister, No. 3 Venus, in the fourth round — was superb, matching strokes and strides with as strong and swift a woman as the game has to offer.
Williams, meanwhile, kept making mistakes, and two backhand errors plus a double-fault contributed to a break at love that put Clijsters ahead 4-2.
When Williams netted backhands on consecutive points at 5-4, Clijsters had broken her for the second time and taken the opening set. The last backhand was the 14th unforced error made by Williams to that point — twice as many as Clijsters — and the American bounced her racket, caught it, then cracked it against the blue court, mangling the frame.
When Williams walked to the changeover, she clanged it against the net post and was given a warning for racket abuse by the chair umpire.
That would prove pivotal about an hour later, at match's end. "I mean, the timing is unfortunate, you know," Clijsters said. "To get a point penalty at the time, it's unfortunate. But there are rules, and you know, like I said, it's just unfortunate that it has to happen on a match point."
Definitely a spoiled little brat. I don't think she really said she'd kill her..I think that was crap...but I do think she told her off..and it was unnecessary.
Idiotic move by Serena. Don't get mad at the judge for giving a point. She already broke her racket. The point to make it 15-40 was ONE point out of dozens that she lost during the match, consistently being outplayed by Clijsters.
Sorry but I think that has to do a lot more with the poor level of women's tennis right now.
I think that's the big problem with the coverage of this story. Sure, it's controversial that a match would end in that manner. But, what's seemingly lost in the shuffle is the fact that Clijsters had put herself at match point.
The specific manner in which Serena lost the last point of the match was bizarre, but I think the story is that Clijsters has played exceptionally well and might well grab another Slam le as a result, despite having been away for so long.
How on earth can she claim a woman did not feel threatened by someone clearly yelling- I am going to take this f-ing ball and shove it down your f-ing throat. And that was how her tirade began.
I have always liked Venus but have never liked Serena. Now she can act as if she lost due to this and not due to being outplayed.
Also lost in most of the press I have read is that it appeared to me that the chair umpire called the line judge over not the other way around as it seems to have been portrayed in many articles.
Last edited by ploto; 09-13-2009 at 11:05 AM.
That line judge should have stayed out of business that didn't concern her. I don't blame Serena for going off at all. Sure, poor form from a professional athlete, but it was a close match so the intensity was high. Why would the judge have felt threatened? There's tons of people around, Serena couldn't possibly shove the ing ball down her ing throat without being arrested...right?
If you double-fault the bull in an important match, you're gonna get the horns. *makes horns gesture*
Just the counterpoint we need to start a forum fight.
It's a shame Clijsters didn't finish her off.
If ANYONE ever told me they were going to kill me, I would feel threatened. Doesn't matter where I am. That kind of behavior can not only lead to removing the line judge's ability to officiate the contest, it can spark fan retribution against her. This is not without precedent in history, and it would only take one crazed Serena fan to attempt to act out vengeance against the line judge.
You mean, the tennis match that she is assigned to officiate? Yeah. Why don't you try telling refs to stay out of the NBA games that don't concern them?That line judge should have stayed out of business that didn't concern her.
I don't blame her if it was simple frustration. She threatened to kill a line judge. That goes just a wee bit past what is considered acceptable.I don't blame Serena for going off at all.
More concisely, if her foot wasn't over the line, her response afterward definitely was.
The real problem here is the impact it had on her opponent. Kim was allowed no exultation, no joy of jumping or falling to her knees in the middle of the court with the knowledge that she -earned- this victory. She did earn it, but if you've ever played sports, you know how much of a rip-off this ending is for her.
If Serena would have just had the decency to settle down a little before speaking, she wouldn't have robbed the fans of a chance to see a great comeback from Serena, or the continuation of a great career comeback from Kim.
Her actions robbed EVERYONE in the stadium of seeing tennis played at it's highest level and the fitting end to that match.
the chair umpire called the line judge over. It was clear when i saw the game live.
Why would it spark fan retribution? If the judge was so clearly right, then why would anyone want to hurt her? On the other hand, if she was as wrong in making such a lame call in the first place, well, she should expect hissing and bad words in her general direction. Perhaps even a soft drink to the back of her head. Serena never threatened to kill her, just to forcibly shove a tennis ball in her throat. There's no proof it would have killed her.
I try to, and so do many others. Have you ever seen the officiating in the NBA? It's ridiculous.
Oh, I see you did there haha. Clever.
Fair point, but it's really the officials that totally robbed everyone.
it was about time she went mike tyson on someone....
I shouldn't have to recount the number of times fans have acted in outrage over real or perceived slights by officials. Again, it only takes one crazed Serena fan to instigate violence. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but when you're a judge and one of the most prolific players in the world is threatening you, it must be daunting and worrisome.
The fact that you are so upset by what could have very well been a correct call shows there is a lot of indignation to go around here, even if the line judge was just doing her job. Your opinion that it's a "lame call" does not really change the fact that the rules are there for a reason. A correct call is a correct call, regardless of the situation. If Serena hadn't broken her racket earlier during the match and controlled her temper more properly, she might not have been penalized a point for this action. Serena is the one behaving improperly here, not the line judge.
As far as the threat to kill her, it certainly sounds like she was making aggressive threats against the line judge.
So your solution is to tell the refs to just stop calling fouls? Would that make the game better, in your opinion? A foot fault is every bit as real as any other violation in tennis. If you want to start arbitrarily taking out rules when it's inconvenient, you defeat the purpose of even having said rules and boundaries for players to play within.I try to, and so do many others. Have you ever seen the officiating in the NBA? It's ridiculous.
No, it's Serena acting like a 6 year old not getting her way, busting her rackets and violently threatening other people. If she had played well, she wouldn't be at double match point against an unranked player and a penalty point wouldn't have affected her.Fair point, but it's really the officials that totally robbed everyone.
Sure, people are never victims of violence with other people around. Tell that to Monica Seles.
Another interesting note is that Serena still has another match to play in the US Open- her doubles final with Venus.
serena looked extremely poor and crazy, if she doesn't understand why that side girl didn't feel threatened. give me a break, .
The line judge made a bad call, replays show she really didn't make a violation. I really don't blame her for being pissed, she hardly ever commits that violation in the 1st place. She shouldn't have acted the way she did, but I don't blame her. There is no accountability in sports for bull calls.
I guarantee if Brent Barry acted this way after the no call at the end of game 4 of the 2008 WCF's , you guys would be backing him up. You guys flaming her for calling bull on a bull call is pretty ridiculous. I'm glad she did this.
if a guy did that, it would be sexual harassmentshove a teste down ur throat lol
I would never advocate someone threatening another person's life, under any cir stances related to sports.
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