So. Women’s tennis is still entertaining for all the wrong reasons! Actually, there has been good tennis played in between the psycho-weirdness that breaks out inside every women’s match. Now that all hell has broken loose over the ending of the Clijsters/Serena match, let’s get correct information out there. Because we all know the non-tennis media will be awash in conspiracy theories and unfairness tomorrow. Yes, non-tennis folks, there was a time when Mac and Connors could abuse officials with impunity. That time ended. And McEnroe himself was defaulted during a grand slam tournament.
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 shaking a ball at her.
“If I could, I would take this … ball and shove it down your … throat and kill you,” Williams said.
The line judge went over to the chair umpire, and tournament referee Brian Earley joined in the conversation. Williams then went over and said to the line judge: “I didn’t say I would kill you. Are you serious? Are you serious? I didn’t say that.”
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.”
Yes, the call on the foot fault was 100% wrong.
Foot faults should be added to the replay system. Maybe it’s the lawyer in me, but my first instinct would’ve been to ask to challenge the call using replay and then argue why it should be within the scope of rule. That call was so, so bush league. But Serena’s conduct was properly penalized. Although Serena denied saying anything about killing the linesperson, she used the word “fuck” at least twice – to say nothing of her intimidation directed toward the lineswoman. An attack that went on, and on, and on. Once go round wasn’t enough for Serena, and I got the same sense of unease that I feel every time I have to watch McEnroe do the same thing.
Serena is smart. She played the McEnroe card in the presser – that she idolized John. That will get all the non-tennis scribes in an uproar, as it suggests she was treated differently than he was. But of course, the reason the tough rule exists is because of John McEnroe. Just so we come full circle, Mac will be asked to comment again, forcing him to revisit what he has described as his most humiliating moment as a pro.
I hate that the match ended on that note, because Clijsters took it to Serena and deserved the win. The essay that landed Chris Evert in so much hot water a few years ago said Serena could be the greatest player who ever lived, if she fully committed herself. I agreed then; I agree now. I really thought no one, including Clijsters, could beat Serena as well as she had played in this tournament. I feel bad that Serena let her emotions take control. And I feel for all the players who’ve been waiting on pins and needles for 48 hours to play these matches. But Kim played so clean and Serena was feeling all the pressure, because she knew that she couldn’t afford errors against Kim. As we’ve all written, Serena needs to be pushed. She’s far too good to make so many errors – and over 30 of them tonight cost her the win.
UPDATE
This was utterly classless of Serena in her presser.
“I’ve never been in a fight my whole life, so I don’t know why she would have felt threatened.”
Don’t play coy Serena, it isn’t about the linesperson being afraid of big bad Serena, going to beat her up. This is about the rule. Just more attempts at media manipulation.
Passing Shots 
Posted on September 13, 2009
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