Serena Williams Controversial Outburst Against Line Judge

Update - Serena Fined and on Probation

Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock announced recently that Serena has been fined a record fine of $82,500 for her tirade against the lineswoman at the U.S. Open. In addition, she'll be put on probation for the next two years. If another incident occurs, she'll be banned from participating at the U.S. Open that year. Does the punishment fit the "crime"? Voice your opinion below.

An Embarrassing Moment for Tennis

The long anticipated semifinal between the unseeded Belgian mom Kim Clijsters, returning from a 27 month break as mom, and the American powerhouse Serena Williams, finally took place after a long rain delay Saturday night. The match was intense, and very tight, but Kim's outplaying of the favorite Serena was overshadowed by a controversial outburst at the end of the match.

An Ill-Timed Foot Fault

The score was 6-4, 6-5, Clijsters leading, and Serena serving to stay in the match. While not as limber on foot, Serena was able to blast heavy serves at timely moments to keep her from completely falling out of contention (she had completely trashed her racket following her loss of the first set, resulting in a warning and $500 fine). Despite her powerful hitting, the fleet footed Clijsters was able to get her out of position, and knock a winner that sent Serena reeling into a 15-30 hole, two points from losing the match. And this is where all hell broke loose.

Serena narrowly misses her first serve down the T. On her second serve, the lines woman to her left calls a foot fault, which essentially gives Kim Clijsters a match point, at 15-40. Granted, this is about the worst timing for a foot fault call - in our opinion foot faults should only be called during non-critical times and serve as a warning. Serena first appeared to compose herself and prepare to serve, but her nerves got the better of her. Instead of hitting her serve she swerved to the left, and starting walking towards the line judge that called her foot fault, waving her racket and yelling profanities at her on the way.

When she was done with her initial tirade, she returned to the line to serve. But at this point, she had silenced the shocked New York crowd, and the chair umpire had asked the line judge to report to her what Serena had said. It turned out to be worse than we could have imagined - along the lines of "If I could, I would take this … ball and shove it down your … throat." John McEnroe might have made a name for himself with his outbursts, but we don't recall him verbally and physically threatening officials in this way. Serena, this move takes the cake.

Can Serena Single-Handedly Bury Respect for Our Sport?

We wouldn't have thought it possible, but it looks like all the hard work that has gone into bolstering and polishing tennis' image over the past few years may prove in vain if Serena doesn't take responsibility for her actions and apologize to the line judge she so unprofessionally lambasted.

To make matters worse, Serena failed to accept responsibility or issue even the smallest of apologies - not only in her press conference following the match, but in a statement the next day, after she had a night to sleep and recollect her thoughts and emotions.

Serena's Official Statement Leaves Fans Cold

Her official statement, issued on Sunday, reads as follows: "Last night everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job. Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while I don't agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and, as a result, handled the situation poorly. I would like to thank my fans and supporters for understanding that I am human, and I look forward to continuing the journey, both professionally and personally, with you all as I move forward and grow from this experience."

It shocks us that she once again completely fails to apologize to the line judge. Meanwhile, she has been fined a mere $10,000 for her actions (3% of her earning so far this year), and is being allowed to play in the doubles match today. I'm sorry to say that the inadequacy of dealing with this troubling incident will only result in a more tarnished image for our sport in the long run, especially if the Grand Slam committee, USTA, WTA, etc. fail to take further action. In our opinion Serena should be suspended from the next major - the Australian Open. An interim suspension wouldn't have much effect on her, since she tends to skip the tournaments inbetween the majors anyways.

USOpen.org Censors Comments?

To make matters worse, it appears that USOpen.org is censoring their comments. You'll notice on her press release page that (so far, at least) only positive comments appear. This despite the fact that we have already submitted several comments expressing our disatisfaction with the way this incident is being handled.

In the end, we still love Serena and support her, but for the sake of our sport, and all its players and participants, we need her to take full responsibility for her outburst, and apologize to the lines woman, her fans, and everyone involved. Serena needs to realize the consequences of her actions so we can prevent this issue from recurring in the future, and so we can continue to maintain a clean and positive image of our beloved sport, and provide a good example to young tennis kids everywhere.