Serena Williams was fined $10,500 (£6,300) and risked the potential of suspension yesterday night for her profanity-laced diatribe towards a lineswoman who called a foot fault against her in the US Open semi-final against Kim Clijsters on Saturday.
In the 12th game of the second set, with the score 6-4, 6-5, and 15-30, Williams double-faulted on a foot fault — which seemed to be a wrong call — and then marched up to the judge and allegedly screamed, “I swear to God I’ll f—king take this ball and shove it down your f—king throat! Do you hear me? I swear to God. You better be f—king glad that I’m not, I swear.”
Serena seemed to say a lot more when she drew closer to the lineswoman, shaking a tennis ball first and then pointing with her racket as she shouted.
Serena Williams returned to serve, bouncing the ball fiercely on her line. Shino Tsurubuchi then turned to face Louise Engzell, nodded, and approached her. Serena Williams gazed at them, puzzled, while the two ladies spoke. Spectators sprang to their feet and booed. It was a disaster. Brian Earley, the American Grand Slam’s umpire, took a firm stride onto the court, assisted by Donna Kelso, the WTA’s American Grand Slam supervisor. Serena paused for a while before blurting out: “I never said that I was going to kill you! Are you serious?” Journalists, too, were astounded. “At the moment, we didn’t understand what was going on,” recalls Yves Simon. They only realized the story’s conclusion afterwards.
Afterwards, she was unrepentant: “An apology from me? How many people yell at linespeople? I see it happening all the time. I don’t know how many times I have seen that happen. I am a professional. I’m not the beggar, like, ‘Please, please, please, let me have another chance,’ because it was the rules and I play by the rules.”
What happened next, according to the official account, will almost certainly go down in tennis history. “Engzell then assessed Williams a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, with Brian Earley, the tournament referee, in agreement,” according to the New York Times. “But Williams had no point to give — the penalty ended the match, and the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, which was only about half-full after two days of rain delays, was stunned.” Many people seem to be glossing over what occurred while Engzell, Brian Earley, and the lineswoman were contemplating what to do after the match was done.
“The grand slam rule book allows for an investigation to be conducted by the grand slam committee administrator to determine if the behaviour of Ms Williams warrants consideration as a major offence, for which additional penalties can be imposed. This investigation has now begun,” Brian Earley, the referee, stated in a statement.
Serena Williams stormed to her bench and tossed her racket. She then proceeded to shake hands with Kim Clijsters, who seemed to be equally shocked. “She just said ‘Good luck, I hope that you will win the title,'” later said the Belgian. The crowd applauded as the American gathered her stuff and exited the court. “Go Serena!” Yves Simon remembers that Kim Clijsters was “livid” on her chair. “She didn’t understand wh at happened. It was as if she couldn’t agree for the match to end up like this.” But it was already over, “Ladies and gentlemen, the 2009 US Open finalist: Kim Clijsters!” At the end of the fortnight, the Belgian even won the title.
Serena didn’t even bother to be diplomatic in the news conference that followed. “I didn’t play my best… I haven’t really thought about if I have any regrets,” she said, but she didn’t apologize or provide any type of explanation. Meanwhile, the event has been labeled Serena’s “match-ending tantrum” and “meltdown for the ages” by the media.
