LA Times: Serena Deserves Suspension
LA Times: Serena Deserves Suspension
------------------------------
BILL DWYRE
Bill Dwyre: Serena Williams makes a fool of herself and deserves punishment
Serena Williams offered no apology and showed no remorse for her behavior during her U.S. Open semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters, 6-4, 7-5. (Darron Cummings / Associated Press)
Her tirade toward U.S. Open to lineswoman goes beyond those of McEnroe and Nastase in earlier days, especially as she shows no remorse. She should be heavily fined and suspended.
By Bill Dwyre September 13, 2009
From New York
<!-- sphereit start --> Let's get right to the point. Serena Williams should be fined heavily and suspended for a while from the pro tennis tour.
<hr> FOR THE RECORD:
Tennis: Bill Dwyre's column in Sunday's Sports section about Serena Williams' loss in the U.S. Open semifinals said Williams' outburst at a lineswoman began when she was called for a foot fault on her first serve at 15-40. In fact, Williams was called for a foot fault on her second serve at 15-30. —
<hr>
Let's see what kind of guts the normally soft-on-discipline sport of tennis has this time. If she were an Oregon football player, she'd be out for the season.
If you saw it on television, you know what happened, you know that she made a fool out of herself Saturday night in an ugly incident at the U.S. Open. If you didn't see it, we'll confirm it:
Serena Williams made a fool out of herself Saturday night in an ugly incident at the U.S. Open.
The quick details are:
* She was given a point penalty on match point, which meant she lost her semifinal to Kim Clijsters, 6-4, 7-5.
* She was given the point penalty because, after a linesperson called a foot fault on her first serve at 15-40, she went over to the linesperson, shook her fist at her, and from just several feet away, said, according to several witnesses courtside, "You don't know me. You better be right. I could shove this ball down your throat." Interspersed with this were several F-bombs.
* The lineswoman was called to the chair umpire to report what had been said. The chair umpire had given Williams a warning/code violation at the end of the first set, when Williams smashed her racket to the court and broke it. That is a routine call for chair umpires. A second violation called from the chair is loss of a point, a third loss of the match. Williams' second violation was on match point.
* The point violation was assessed after a conference around the umpire's chair that included chair umpire Louise Engzell, tournament referee Brian Earley, the unidentified lineswoman and Williams. During that confab, Williams was overheard on TV microphones as denying she had threatened to kill the lineswoman.
Quickly, Williams was tossing her racket on her bag and walking to the back of the court, where a confused Clijsters spread her palms open as if to say, "What's going on?" and then accepted Williams' handshake and short hug.
Since the days of John McEnroe and maybe Ilie Nastase, there hasn't been much of this in tennis. This might have gone well beyond those days in severity.
It was on network television, in one of the most-anticipated matches of the entire tournament. Millions watched.
It went well beyond the McEnroe tirade stage into body language and direct verbiage that was threatening and ugly.
It was an embarrassment to a sport that has made good strides recently in expanding its niche. The U.S Tennis Assn. loves to talk about its "grass-roots" programs, geared to getting rackets into young players' hands. Now those young hands have a role model for racket-smashing and bad language.
As bad as this incident was, leaving a three-quarters-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium in near stunned silence, worse was Williams' handling of the aftermath in a news conference. There, she had a chance to apologize, or maybe even fake some remorse. She did neither.
Instead, we got the usual, phony, sing-songy deflections and silly answers -- all done with a big smile, as if she had just won, 6-0, 6-0.
LA Times: Serena Deserves Suspension
------------------------------
BILL DWYRE
Bill Dwyre: Serena Williams makes a fool of herself and deserves punishment
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Her tirade toward U.S. Open to lineswoman goes beyond those of McEnroe and Nastase in earlier days, especially as she shows no remorse. She should be heavily fined and suspended.
By Bill Dwyre September 13, 2009
From New York
<!-- sphereit start --> Let's get right to the point. Serena Williams should be fined heavily and suspended for a while from the pro tennis tour.
<hr> FOR THE RECORD:
Tennis: Bill Dwyre's column in Sunday's Sports section about Serena Williams' loss in the U.S. Open semifinals said Williams' outburst at a lineswoman began when she was called for a foot fault on her first serve at 15-40. In fact, Williams was called for a foot fault on her second serve at 15-30. —
<hr>
Let's see what kind of guts the normally soft-on-discipline sport of tennis has this time. If she were an Oregon football player, she'd be out for the season.
If you saw it on television, you know what happened, you know that she made a fool out of herself Saturday night in an ugly incident at the U.S. Open. If you didn't see it, we'll confirm it:
Serena Williams made a fool out of herself Saturday night in an ugly incident at the U.S. Open.
The quick details are:
* She was given a point penalty on match point, which meant she lost her semifinal to Kim Clijsters, 6-4, 7-5.
* She was given the point penalty because, after a linesperson called a foot fault on her first serve at 15-40, she went over to the linesperson, shook her fist at her, and from just several feet away, said, according to several witnesses courtside, "You don't know me. You better be right. I could shove this ball down your throat." Interspersed with this were several F-bombs.
* The lineswoman was called to the chair umpire to report what had been said. The chair umpire had given Williams a warning/code violation at the end of the first set, when Williams smashed her racket to the court and broke it. That is a routine call for chair umpires. A second violation called from the chair is loss of a point, a third loss of the match. Williams' second violation was on match point.
* The point violation was assessed after a conference around the umpire's chair that included chair umpire Louise Engzell, tournament referee Brian Earley, the unidentified lineswoman and Williams. During that confab, Williams was overheard on TV microphones as denying she had threatened to kill the lineswoman.
Quickly, Williams was tossing her racket on her bag and walking to the back of the court, where a confused Clijsters spread her palms open as if to say, "What's going on?" and then accepted Williams' handshake and short hug.
Since the days of John McEnroe and maybe Ilie Nastase, there hasn't been much of this in tennis. This might have gone well beyond those days in severity.
It was on network television, in one of the most-anticipated matches of the entire tournament. Millions watched.
It went well beyond the McEnroe tirade stage into body language and direct verbiage that was threatening and ugly.
It was an embarrassment to a sport that has made good strides recently in expanding its niche. The U.S Tennis Assn. loves to talk about its "grass-roots" programs, geared to getting rackets into young players' hands. Now those young hands have a role model for racket-smashing and bad language.
As bad as this incident was, leaving a three-quarters-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium in near stunned silence, worse was Williams' handling of the aftermath in a news conference. There, she had a chance to apologize, or maybe even fake some remorse. She did neither.
Instead, we got the usual, phony, sing-songy deflections and silly answers -- all done with a big smile, as if she had just won, 6-0, 6-0.
From The Times
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'If I could, I'd shove this ball down your throat and kill you' - Serena Williams
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article6833044.ece
Bottom line to me and to a few people i have talk to on this subject.Williams is a angry person to most and this goes back to her childhood and the way she was raise.She is a good tennis player, but imo she gave tennis a black eye with this and need to be made a example of.just heard that they might taken away her Open money and not letting her play in the open next yr ...ck
seriously doubt that...
she did come out with a statement today with the usual backpeddle..
i wish i was a sportswriter and in the room when serena was asked what she said and then replied " i dont remember "
i would have stood up and said - does this ring a bell ?
" shove a ball down your fucking throat ? "
she aint getting
she is like tiger in a lot of ways, number 1 draw to the sports, brings the ratings. no real wta tour without her.
the wta tour is in horrible shape outside of the williams and sharapova who may even be done.
when you have someone who hasnt played tennis in a year and easily win a major like the us open you know your tour is messed up.
the future stars like ivanovic, vaidisova, jankovic are all busts and there is no real super talent moving up.
she is like tiger in a lot of ways, number 1 draw to the sports, brings the ratings. no real wta tour without her.
the wta tour is in horrible shape outside of the williams and sharapova who may even be done.
when you have someone who hasnt played tennis in a year and easily win a major like the us open you know your tour is messed up.
the future stars like ivanovic, vaidisova, jankovic are all busts and there is no real super talent moving up.
