Serena Williams had something of a major incident Saturday night at the U.S. Open. She was up against Belgian Kim Cjisters, and it was Serena’s serve. The lineswoman called Serena out for a foot fault in her second serve, and suddenly, Serena lost her temper in a rather spectacular fashion. There are a few different videos of the event, and in one version, Serena can be seen walking in a seemingly menacing way, yelling at the lineswoman. There’s some debate at exactly what Serena screamed, but from what I could lip-read and make out from the reports on the incident, Serena started out with something like, “I swear to God, I’m gonna take this f-cking ball and shove it down your f-cking throat. I’m gonna kill you.” It looks like Serena said a lot more than that, as she walked even closer to the lineswoman, shaking a tennis ball first, and then using her racket to point as she yelled.
Serena then walked away, and when her back was turned, the lineswoman ran over to the chair umpire, Swede Louise Engzell. When Serena saw that, she seemed dismissive, walking a few steps towards the umpire, then walking back to the her line. The lineswoman went back to her chair, and that when Serena got angry all over again. She began walking towards the lineswoman again, pointing her racket, and lineswoman, now visibly upset, ran back over to the umpire.
The official version of what happened next will probably go down in tennis history. According to the New York Times, “Engzell then assessed Williams a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, with Brian Earley, the tournament referee, in agreement. But Williams had no point to give — the penalty ended the match, and the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, which was only about half-full after two days of rain delays, was stunned.” The crowd wasn’t just “stunned” that the match was over, as many people seem to be glossing over what happened when Engzell, Brian Earley and the lineswoman were deciding what to do. Serena stormed over and began arguing with all of them. She was visibly upset as well, and exclaimed “I didn’t say I would kill you, are you serious?” Oh, for goodness sake. I like a good fight as much as the next person, but when you’re caught on camera screaming, “I swear to God, I’m gonna take this f-cking ball and shove it down your f-cking throat. I’m gonna kill you,” the jig is up.
After the match was over (so suddenly) and Kim Cjisters was declared the winner (sort of), Serena didn’t even try to take the high road at the press conference afterwards. She didn’t apologize or offer up any kind of explanation beyond, “I didn’t play my best…I haven’t really thought about if I have any regrets.” Meanwhile, the press has dubbed this incident Serena’s “match-ending tantrum” and “meltdown for the ages”. The U.S. Open is now investigating if Serena should face other repercussions for her actions. I kind of think what she’s already lost is big enough, but it wouldn’t kill her to apologize to that poor, terrified lineswoman.
It was truly a meltdown and I’m sure she wishes she could take back what she said.
This was pretty damn hardcore. Serena needs to cool off. I couldn’t help but laugh at the lines woman skuddling off to tattle to the official.
Didn’t John McEnroe have one of these every match?
I was going to say the same as Neelyo…for some reason (*cough* white male *cough*) John McEnroe got away with this kind of behavior all the time. Sure he got bad press for it, but I don’t believe (could be wrong here) it was ever match-ending? He’d throw things at linesmen, curse, I’m sure there was probably some death threats, etc.
I agree with KT and Neelyo – even Serena said it ” a lot of other people have said much worse” – and she’s totally right.
Usually when an unnaturally muscular man has a meltdown everyone says, “‘Roid rage!” I wonder what’s different here?
The little asian lady looked terrified…lol
The lineswoman was actually called over by the chair umpire to relay what SW yelled at her.
the foot fault was a sucky call but serena’s reaction was an embarrassment to all athletes.
she should apologise and take some anger management classes.
It was only game ending ’cause when Serena lost the first set, she smashed her tennis racket against the court and got a warning. So this was the second incident of the match, and she was given a 1 point penalty. That she didn’t have to give. Shame that Cjisters’ win is overshadowed by this meltdown.
I believe Serena’s also been fined $10,000 by the Tennis Association
Sorry, but McEnroe did have meltdowns and he was fined and assesed points the same as Serena was. I was an avid player and watcher of the sport from my childhood to adulthood. McEnroe was penalized the same as Serena, so it isn’t like because she is a woman that they seemed to punish her more. Ille Nastase and many others who have thrown on court fits were punished accordingly back in the day. In recent tennis history, the fits have been few and far between from players, so perhaps that is why this seemed so harsh and over blown, but I assure you McEnroe got in trouble just like Serena.
Bottom line, Serena was wrong, out of line and deserved what she got. It has nothing to do with gender or race, as some other blogs are claiming.
soo disappointing…poor asian lady!
I used to work with a woman who had been an executive at Nike, and she said both the Williams sisters were insufferable brats, and nearly impossible to deal with (despite being paid millions, of course).
Firestarter…you are the voice of reason! Thanks for your comments which are factual. Serena needs to maintain professional calm which I’m sure is very difficult in light of the stress of major tournaments.
Yes, Serena had a meltdown on the court and went after a woman who made a wrong call and ended up losing the match. Serena was wrong to go there, but she’s hardly the first person to do so. I don’t disagree with her punishment or her fines but I do have to take exception to the behavior of some of the commentators who have tried to turn it into an attempted murder investigation. I find it hysterical that the same commentators who regularly kiss McEnroe’s a@@ and lovingly tell stories of his epic tantrums on court are attempting to get Serena banned. If she was a player who did this regularly, then I’d agree, but this is the first time she’s done anything like this. Roddick and America’s sweetheart Melanie Oudin drop the F bomb regularly and no one says a word but Serena swearing is “vulgar” and her outburst is “rage”. She got hosed on a point and took it too far but let’s not act like she’s a rampaging criminal.
Clijsters with i j please – ij is a vowel sound in Dutch, which is where her name stems from.
On the version ESPN showed she didnt threaten to kill her, just to shove the ball up her ass.
And this is a big deal how????
People have tantrums in sports all the time. She should have been fined, but saying she launched death threats is laughable. Then so have John McEnroe and hundreds of other dramatic players. No one took them seriously, so this drawn way out of proportion. I don’t believe for a second that she would have actually harmed the woman!
Vibius- I think from what I heard was shove it down her throat.
I think the media is just making it bigger than it is. What Serena is wrong and she was penalise for her behavior. So maybe next time she is going to think before saying she is going to shove an object up someones ass and if she does it again she should be penalise again.
I am glad Serena has not apologised. Especially if other white players get away with losing their tempers.
I didn’t hear any kill you threat, only that she wanted to shove the ball down her fucking throat…. that aside, Serena’s reaction was so far over the line that it wasn’t funny. Neither were McEnroe’s but he’s irrelevant. What a man was allowed to get away with 20 years ago is a moot point.
Even the line umpire’s call be it correct or incorrect is irrelevant. Athletes know they have to play to the umpire/referee, Serena’s outburst and subsequent attitude at the press conference was bad form. A one grand slam suspension wouldn’t be bad but probably deemed excessive, she should definitely be on probation. A forfeit of her prize money may send a big enough signal.
The officials did a poor job of communicating to Kim Clijsters and the crowd over the event.
The lineswoman did not scamper over to the umpire to tattle-tale, the umpire called her over twice.
Couple this with that jerk Kanye at the VMAs (which Serena attended…) you have to ask, what the fuck is going on?
Serena acted like a pig (no offense to pigs). She didn’t even apologize and her excuse was ” how many people yell at linesmen?”. She is a bully. She was losing, she knew she had no chance so she threw a temper tantrum. Kim played superbly and her win was marred by serena’s nasty behavior. I hope there will be more fines coming serena’s way.
Serena Honey,
I have a a job.
YOU play a kids’ game and call it a job.
Just FYI.
Michelle- White players have not gotten away with that behavior. Do some research on the subject and you will find that they have ALL been fined, repremanded and even suspended from play. You obviously are not familiar with the sport or it’s rules. It isn’t about race in tennis, it is about RULES.
Truth there Firestarter, John McEnroe’s rows with the line judges and the fines he paid for them were legendary, once upon a time.
meh … not a big deal, tennis players lose it frequently. certainly doesn’t make her unique. but i have to say if serena were mad at me i think i’d quake a little.
This is gender bias. McEnroe and Jimmy Connors were always spouting off.
The gracious thing to do would be for Serena to publicly acknowledge Kim’s comeback and victory.
How is what happened to Serena gender biased? The same rules applied to McEnroe, Nastase, Conners and many other male players when they lost it. People need to do a little more research about Tennis, and you will find that it is a very fair minded sport.
Yes, McEnroe etc lost it and they all were punished. No different than Serena losing it. Even Martina Navaratilova and Pam Shriver, years ago, were punished for an outburst over a line call during a match. This has nothing to do with race nor gender. It has to do with the rules of tennis during tournament play, which apply to ALL genders and races.
@ Hieronymus Grex (#23): LOL!! My feelings exactly. All I have to say about Serena’s poor sportmanship is wah phawking wah. Grow up and quit being such a spoiled, insufferable brat.
Am I the only one who expected more from Serena?
I get that this was a big match, and perhaps her time to shine is coming to an end, but I really did expect more from her.
Don’t insult Serena by saying its a race issue, please. She has been a stellar player for years and lost her cool. She’s allowed no matter what color she is.
I freakin’ hate when people pull the race card. Its insulting to everyone and a lame excuse. All I have ever seen is an amazing athlete playing tennis.
There are no double standards – when McEnroe swore at the umpire at the Australian Open 1990, he was not just docked a point, he was kicked out of the tournament.
Serena is hugely talented, but this showed a bullying, foul-mouthed side to her character. Had she quickly apologised, we could have put it down as a one-off, but her refusal showed also a cheap side to her, and an unpleasant sense of entitlemant.
If there’s any gender-related element to the public reaction here, it’s in expecting her to apologize. When male athletes blow their tops, like John McEnroe, we tut-tut, punish, and move along. When it’s a woman, we tut-tut, punish, and then criticize her obvious lack of social graces, because women are supposed to be NICE as well as pretty and talented. Men are afforded respect in sport even if they have a shitty attitude. Bollocks.
It’s one thing to have a tantrum on the court when you are in a crucial match… but profanity should never be acceptable.
I don’t read lips..but if she really threatened the linejudge’s life … now that is cause for her to lose the match and get more than just a $10k penalty. (You may know “it’s just an expression” but the linejudge, at the other end of Serena’s wrath, probably wasn’t taking any chances)
“Serena”… not living up to her name in that game.
I mourn the times when a person (male, female, black, white, rainbow, whatever) could have a bad day and make a stupid mistake and leave it at that. No one here can tell me that they have never lost their temper and maybe even said something they shouldn’t have. She broke the rules (behaving abominably I might add) and is getting the same fine that any pro would get. Sigh.
Firestarter is absolutely right – I remember vividly seeing Ille Nastase tearing apart tennis racquets and McEnroe’s lengthy tirades and getting called to the carpet and fined for it. It made front-page news in many cases.
This is not a bias issue, race or gender. And the regular commenters on celebitchy are not racist, which is why most of us continue to come here to read and gripe, instead of pretty much all the other sites I can think of, having six idiots in a row the first second an article is posted, saying “FIRST!”, etc.
If we as a species are ever going to get over ourselves and get past this us and them crap, the screaming of racist! has just got to stop, because it’s gotten just about as bad as being one and not screaming it. It’s the same thing, people.
@gg
I heart you!
@gg- Thirty-Eighth!!!
I had to LOL@ your comment about idiots posting first! You are so right. Bugs the hell out of me!
she is sooooo scary
ugh!
shes like an animal
Wasn’t that the same Asian linesperson who got a racquet shoved up her ass on one of her calls Friday night??
I guess the steroids kicked in! XD
Wow Firestarter….get over yourself. “People need to do a little more research about Tennis, and you will find that it is a very fair minded sport.” I think what you will find if you do some research is that most tennis players are no better human beings than the scum that plays for the NFL. Wearing white at Wimbeldon doesn’t wash away your sins.
LuLu: You are exactly hitting the nail on the head. I have extensive tennis background but I will never act as condescending as most tennis players act. They are the most snobish athletes there are (except for maybe polo players). However, they just THINK that they are better than other human beings and most of the time, they are worse.
Serena has been a poor sport for many years. Unlike her sister, she consistantly downplays her opponents when they beat her. Its all about her problems, never the oponent having beat her fair and square. She always pouts and rants when things dont go her way… never the professional. Rarely do I see her gracefully lose. Its almost always a pouty and condenscending laced post game interview where she denies thee opponent any credit. Not everytime, but mostly.
I tire of her antics and its hard for me to watch her play. Her antithesis, ironically, is her sister who plays with grace and comments and intervies with the same grace.
Her antics at the US Open is only the icing on the cake for years of her bad attitude. Those that say she should get a break obiously dont pay attention to her post game comments when she loses and sometimes when she wins.
Ive been a Tennis fan since the late 70’s. Never once have a seen a player get the benefit of the doubt for acting like a jerk. They all have been docked pay and or lose points are kicked out of the tourny. Men and Women.
I only wish she would act like she did when she first came on the scene. She was a delight to watch and listen too. Now she is a drama queen with entitlement written all over her. Sad.
It’s so much rubbish to act like McEnroe never got in trouble for his outbursts, he was fined, giv en point penalties and even thrown out of more than one match for his behavior, he was also criticized in every newspaper around the world for it, stop acting like Serena should be treated differently, she deserves the bad reaction she is getting, she acted horribly and it was an embarrasment to Americans since she does represent us when she plays.
How misnamed is Serena. She acted like a big ass bully.