Temper cost Serena US Open final
Published: 13 September, 2009, 08:39
Edited: 30 November, 2009, 19:33
Defending US Open champion Serena Williams has been knocked out of the semi-finals in dramatic fashion.
She lost her temper with a line judge on a match-point against Kim Clijsters and was docked a point, handing the Belgian a place in the final.
It was a match in which an irritable Serena kept losing points and her temper. She smashed her racquet into the court after committing an unforced error to lose the first set.
And as the Belgian former World No. 1 kept piling up pressure on the American, the defending champ seemed unable to handle it.
The final straw came when an umpire called a foot fault on William’s second serve to hand Clijsters a chance at match point.
Serena hurled abuse at the line judge, who made the call.
"I'm going to shove this ball down your f------ throat," Serena said to the judge, according to Reuters news agency.
And the umpire then gave the American a point penalty for her outburst, which gave Clijsters the match, 6-4 7-5.
But there won't be an all-Belgian final at Flushing Meadows.
Clijsters will face Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets in the other semi, 6-3 6-3.
Wozniacki has reached her first Grand Slam final.
Nadal finishes off Gonzalez
In the men's game, Rafael Nadal lost little time after a two-day wait for his quarter-final match against Fernando Gonzalez.
They were stopped by rain on Thursday night, with Nadal a set to the good and 3-2 up in the second-set tie-break.
The World No. 3 wrapped up the tie-break 7-2 and stormed to 6-0 scoreline in the third.
He faces Juan Martin del Porto in the semi-finals later today, and could play in the final as soon as tomorrow, meaning he'll have to appear on the court for a third day running.
World No. 1 Roger Federer will play Novak Djokovic in the other semi-final.
12.09.2009, 14:27
3 comments
Rain reschedules US Open final for MondayThere will be a delayed final at the US Open after heavy rain washed out Friday's action. |
14.09.2009, 11:00
Clijsters – first mom to win a Slam since 1980Kim Clijsters has capped off a comeback to tennis by winning her second US Open title, after two years absence, during which she had a baby. |
Let's face it Serena acted badly! However, it was in the heat of the game that an erroneous foot- fault call was made that topped it all off. There was no foot fault. Serena was livid because of the bad call and expressed her distaste for the bad call in whatever manner she saw fit at the time. We do not know exactly what was said to the official or what the official might have answered. Surely Serena could have challenged the call and it would have been thrown out. I am sure she thought of it later after calming down. I am appalled at the behavior of Mary Carillo and the other commentators for their fierce comments and opinions about the sanctions to be given to Serena. Mary and others act as thogh the telling off of the official was directed towards them. They are only commentators and I don't recall them having any official capacity at all.
Serrena should be suspended from playing tennis for one year...... she attacked a linesman with that ball and tennis racket and used profane language........ poor loser bad sportsmanship and she also should be fined a heavy fine.... she is a disgrace to the sport of tennis.......... she has a bad attitude she thinks she is the best but Kim shows she is much better
Serena Williams has always set a wonderful example for the public and children. So she has one mistake that cost her the match and she admitted her fault to the public. What more do you want? What we need to do is move on. I think too much was made of the whole thing considering all the bad behavior I have seen in all the years that I have watched tennis. LET IT GO.