Serena Williams Outburst on Foot Fault Hands Clijsters Victory
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Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- An outburst by defending champion Serena Williams over ...
Serena Williams Outburst on Foot Fault Hands Clijsters Victory
By Danielle Rossingh
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- An outburst by defending champion Serena Williams over a foot fault capped her loss to Kim Clijsters in the women’s semifinals at the U.S. Open.
Clijsters, the 2005 champion who came out of a two-year retirement a month ago, will play Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark for the title tonight at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“Played probably the best match of my career tonight and it was the craziest too!” the Belgian wrote last night on her Twitter social networking site.
Serving to stay in last night’s match at a set down and trailing 6-5 in the second, Williams was called for a foot fault by a line judge on her second serve at 15-30, handing Clijsters two match points. A player’s feet cannot touch the baseline during a serve.
Williams turned to get another ball and seemed ready to serve when she changed her mind and walked over to the line judge, shouting and pointing her racket. As Williams walked back to start serving, the line judge reported the incident to chair umpire Louise Engzell.
The Associated Press reported that Williams told the line judge: “If I could, I would take this ... ball and shove it down your ... throat.”
After speaking to Williams and tournament referee Brian Earley, who had walked onto court after the clash, the umpire gave the American a point penalty because she had received a warning after breaking her racket on the court at the end of the first set. Tennis rules dictate that a player’s second code violation is a point penalty, according to the Web site of the U.S. Tennis Association, and this infraction handed the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion a 6-4, 7-5 loss.
Williams then walked over to a stunned Clijsters to shake hands, and walked off the court.
‘Unsportsmanlike’
“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 said in a television interview after the match. “And it just happened that point penalty was match point. It was a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Williams, the second seed, appeared composed at a news conference after the match. She declined to say what she told the line judge.
“What did I say? You didn’t hear?” Williams said. She denied threatening the official, saying: “I’ve never been in a fight in my whole life, so I don’t know why she would have felt threatened.”
Williams, who was full of praise for the way Clijsters played the match, didn’t apologize for her behavior.
“How many people yell at linespeople?” she said. “If you look at all the people that kind of yell at linespeople -- players, athletes get frustrated. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen that happen.”
‘Unfortunate’ Timing
Clijsters said the incident made it difficult for her to celebrate. As a wild-card entrant, she will be playing for her second major title tonight in just her third tournament since coming out of retirement, during which she had her first child.
“The timing is unfortunate,” Clijsters, who is friends with Williams, said at a news conference. “To get a point penalty at the time, it’s unfortunate. But there are rules. It’s just unfortunate that it has to happen on a match point.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Rossingh at the U.S. Open through the New York sports desk at
Last Updated: September 13, 2009 11:34 EDT
Serena Williams' moves on the tennis court have dropped jaws for a decade. But after a shocking moment of a different kind -- a highly publicized tantrum against a courtside judge during this year's U.S. Open -- Williams is now repentant, saying she had "really just lost control."
"As a competitor and as someone who's really passionate about their work, I got a little overexcited," Williams told "Good Morning America" today.
Williams' tirade was ignited when the judge ruled that her foot crossed the line during a serve, resulting in a double fault.
"I feel like taking this [expletive] ball and shoving it down your [expletive] throat," Williams shouted while pointing her finger and walking toward the line judge, following up with more expletives.
Williams was fined $10,000 for the Sunday rant and penalized the final point in her semifinal match against Kim Clijsters. Tournament officials are investigating whether more punishment should follow.
"At that point, I had really just lost control," she said, noting that the call was over a mistake she hadn't made all year. "I just thought, 'What's going on?'"
Williams said she especially felt sorry for the judge who was obviously taken aback by Williams' harsh words and aggressive stance.
"I felt like I wanted to give her a big hug, obviously after the whole tirade was over," she said. "And tell her, you know, 'I'm sorry.'"
The incident, Williams said, was just another lesson learned on the court that she will take with her.
Her new book, "On the Line," discusses Williams' ups and downs not only on the court but throughout her life as she rose from the courts of Compton, Calif., to peak as the world's top-ranked female tennis player.
But after undergoing surgery and the shocking murder of her sister Yetunde Price in 2003, Williams said she began to struggle. Her ranking dropped and "everything came crashing down," she said.
"It was really hard to go through that," Williams said, tearing up as she talked about her sister being part of the motivation to share her story.
Serena Williams' moves on the tennis court have dropped jaws for a decade. But after a shocking moment of a different kind -- a highly publicized tantrum against a courtside judge during this year's U.S. Open -- Williams is now repentant, saying she had "really just lost control."
"As a competitor and as someone who's really passionate about their work, I got a little overexcited," Williams told "Good Morning America" today.
Williams' tirade was ignited when the judge ruled that her foot crossed the line during a serve, resulting in a double fault.
"I feel like taking this [expletive] ball and shoving it down your [expletive] throat," Williams shouted while pointing her finger and walking toward the line judge, following up with more expletives.
Williams was fined $10,000 for the Sunday rant and penalized the final point in her semifinal match against Kim Clijsters. Tournament officials are investigating whether more punishment should follow.
"At that point, I had really just lost control," she said, noting that the call was over a mistake she hadn't made all year. "I just thought, 'What's going on?'"
Williams said she especially felt sorry for the judge who was obviously taken aback by Williams' harsh words and aggressive stance.
"I felt like I wanted to give her a big hug, obviously after the whole tirade was over," she said. "And tell her, you know, 'I'm sorry.'"
The incident, Williams said, was just another lesson learned on the court that she will take with her.
Her new book, "On the Line," discusses Williams' ups and downs not only on the court but throughout her life as she rose from the courts of Compton, Calif., to peak as the world's top-ranked female tennis player.
But after undergoing surgery and the shocking murder of her sister Yetunde Price in 2003, Williams said she began to struggle. Her ranking dropped and "everything came crashing down," she said.
"It was really hard to go through that," Williams said, tearing up as she talked about her sister being part of the motivation to share her story.
But Williams, who won her first grand slam title at age 17 before going on to collect 22 more, rebounded.
"Everyone has downs," she said. "Everyone can learn from them."
In the book, Williams told about the messages she writes herself, including lines such as "Play angry, but let them see confidence. Play angry, but let them see patience."
And, now, as she faces possible additional punishment for her U.S. Open outburst, Williams said she may have to add a new chapter.
"I love my fans. I love the kids. I feel honored to have people look at me and be like, 'I want to be Serena Williams,'" she said, adding that she never expected to be in such a position. "It's greater than the sport."
And that's why, she said, she apologized, backing away from her initial statement shortly after the match that seemed unapologetic as she asked, "Well, how many people yell at lines people?"
"I'm not perfect. I'm human. And no human is perfect except for Jesus," she said. "At the end of the day, I have to be responsible for my actions."
Williams posted an apology on her Web site Monday.
"I want to amend my press statement of yesterday, and want to make it clear as possible," the statement said. "I want to sincerely apologize FIRST to the lines woman, Kim Clijsters, the USTA, and tennis fans everywhere for my inappropriate conduct.
"I need to make it clear to all young people that I handled myself inappropriately and it's not the way to act -- win or lose, good call or bad call in any sport, in any manner."
Williams has taken in nearly $4.5 million in prize money in 2009 and is, at age 27, the No 2. woman player in the world, according to ESPN.
Could you threaten someone at work and the next day be allowed to keep working?
"I want to amend my press statement of yesterday, and want to make it clear as possible," the statement said. "I want to sincerely apologize FIRST to the lines woman, Kim Clijsters, the USTA, and tennis fans everywhere for my inappropriate conduct.
Uh huh. Clearly been found out you're (Williams) in the wrong and better backstep to avoid the sponsor and then public backlash perhaps?
Quote:
"I felt like I wanted to give her a big hug, obviously after the whole tirade was over," she said. "And tell her, you know, 'I'm sorry.'"
If she said that in the after game conference, I would have believed it. Instead, we got this:
“What did I say? You didn’t hear?” Williams said. She denied threatening the official, saying: “I’ve never been in a fight in my whole life, so I don’t know why she would have felt threatened.”
I had little respect for the Williams sisters for the last 10 years due to various other 'loophole' slips. Now I have no respect for one of them.
Serena Williams Outburst on Foot Fault Hands Clijsters Victory 
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