It’s time for me to put my two cents in on the Serena Williams outburst during the U.S. Open semi-finals. There are those who compare her to John McEnroe and claim he was never fined or penalized so why should Serena pay a fine. First, of all, that’s like comparing apples to oranges. As angry as John McEnroe got he never threatened a line judge with bodily harm. And yes, indeed! He was penalized, fined, and lost games, sets, and even matches due to penalties.
But, Serena went too far. When a 5’10”. 185 pound woman charges at a line judge, waving her racquet at her and shoving a ball out at her with her other hand screaming, “swear to God I’m f*cking going to shove this f*cking ball down your f*cking throat, that my friends is a threat to do bodily harm. To give the line judge credit she sat there and said nothing to instigate the situation further. (BTW this was all because the line judge called her on a foot fault, which if Serena truly believed she didn’t do she could have issued a player challenge). Serena then walked back to serve her second serve and then suddenly turned and charged at the line judge again screaming obscenities at her. This caught the attention of the chair umpire who called the line judge over and asked what Serena was saying to her. When she heard what had transpired she called out the tournament referee. Serena lost one point for the foot fault and then lost the match point on a penalty for her abusive language. She found nothing wrong with what she did and later stated she didn’t understand why the woman felt threatened. As one news person stated, did Serena watch the tape and still have to ask that question? It was a scary moment for those of us watching as it did look as if she was going to go after the line judge physically.
There have been many arguments on both sides, but my all time favorite in defense of Serena was on a discussion site. The person stated we were all racists for expecting Serena to act white. That the f-word is a part of the black culture and is used liberally and accepted and anyone who thought she was wrong is a racist. Hmmmmm…..
Okay, personally, I have no issues with the use of the word, but when you play a sport you abide by the rules of that sport, tournament, etc. and Serena knew the rules before she started the match. Yes, she should have been fined and yes, she should be suspended. So far all she got was a $10,000 fine and when compared to the $250,000 she got for making it to the semi-finals that’s chicken feed. She and Venus were allowed to play in the doubles and by the tournament rules they could have suspended her from playing.
My take on this is that this woman who when she loses always has an excuse – I sprained my ankle, hurt my back, broke a fingernail…. Knew she was losing and losing badly and rather than allow Kim Clisters the victory she took that away and put the attention on herself. As Kim said later she never got to experience the thrill you get when you serve that final ball for the win. So, Serena, got what she wanted. Even though she lost in the semi-finals she denied Kim her victory. But, Kim Clisters did go on to win the finals and take home the U.S. Open trophy.
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