Serena Williams Threatens Line Judge “I Would Kill You” [Video]
Total Pro Sports - After seeing a man run onto the court to give Rafael Nadal a kiss following his quarterfinals victory over Gael Monfils, I thought we had seen the best/worst of this year's US Open tournament. I was wrong. Dead wrong!
Last night's semifinals match between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters was the epitomy of craziness as the game ended in the most unusual fashion after Serena was penalized on match point, costing her the game, set, and match. After already receiving a code violation warning for breaking her racket after losing the first set, Williams was serving 5-6, 15-30 in the second. She faulted on her first serve and on her second attempt was called for a foot foul by the line judge. That cost her a crucial point at an important part of the game as Clijsters was now one point away from advancing to the finals. Serena responded to the call in a rather inaffable manner, making her way over to the line judge to shout and curse at her as she waved her racket and ball in disgust.
Dropping the f-word liberally, Williams said, "I swear to God I'm [expletive] going to take this [expletive] ball and shove it down your [expletive] throat, you hear that? I swear to God." [ESPN]
The line judge was then called over by the chair umpire and after a breif discussion, the tournament referee Brian Earley was called onto the court. The boos rained down from the crowd making it difficult to hear the conversation taking place. Williams then made her way over to tell her side of the story as she stated to the line judge, "Sorry, but there are a lot of people who've said way worse."
After the line judge said something else to Earley, Serena responded by saying "I didn't say I would kill you. Are you serious? I didn't say that." The line judge responded by saying "yes" as she shook her head. Serena was peanalized on match point for her second conduct infraction and the game was over with Clijsters recording the 6-4, 7-5 victory and now moving on to the finals.
This is bound to be the story of the tournament, unfortunately overshadowing the excellent performance by Clijsters in her return to women's tennis. She will now go on to face Danish sensation Caroline Wozniacki in Sunday's final.
As for Serena, we can't help but agree with her comment that worse things have been said. That is not only the case within the game of tennis, but outside it as well. When you think about it, at least she didn't decide to chase the umpire around the court, attempting to trip and beat her like those soccer nuts. Heck, even baseball manager Ron Gardenhire must have said worse things to home plate umpire Adrian Johnson, and he didn't even get ejected. Instead, he got the call changed in his favour.
That was not the case for Serena this time, but you can only assume fear will strike the line judge that sees her commit her next foot foul. Not just any fear, but fear for her life!
Here is another angle.
I think the major point is being missed. It was a terrible call! Regardless of Serena’s reaction. At this level of sport, emotions always will run high. That said when you have a bad call the effect should not be measured more than the cause. Serena’s actions are justifiable, the line judges bad call was not.
hey – she did indeed commit the foul, and she did threaten the judge, and she did act like a spoiled brat.
so stop trying to justify her actions by saying that what she did wasn’t as bad as joe blow – where are your standards?
No She Didn’t!
Thats what i would have said to the lady who erroneously judged that foot fault. As a tennis player, i know when someone foot faults, and last night Serena didn’t foot fault at 15-30. It was clear, it was even acknowledged my the camera umpires and even the commentators. If Serena serve was properly judged, she would have handled it in the best ladylike manner possible, but sadly she was cheated.
On the other hand, Serena, based on court ethics, had no right to assault the lines lady. Serena should be peanalized for her behavior, but i think they owe her an appology on the lines lady behalf for the worng calling. Personally i know it is annoying to be cheated at a point so pivital in the match. Serena is right to say that many more have said worse, also many more have done worse. If i was in that situation, i don’t know if i would end up in jail for manslaughter!!! Fortunately she only swore on God’s name. Athletes can attest and empathise with Serena’s actions, but moraly just people with not accept her rude threats.
I’m getting pretty tired of all the references to “soccer nuts” and similar comments. The truth is that nothing even remotely close to what this writer referenced has ever happened in this country in professional soccer, but PLENTY similar or worse has happened in the traditional American sports. It’s always cute when that happens. You know, like when basketball players go into the crowd and beat up the fans. Not to mention rioting in Detroit multiple times over basketball. There’s a LOT. I am not aware of any such incidences in professional soccer in the U.S. And believe me when ANYTHING happens in soccer you will hear about it. I also think it’s a shame that this writer implies that Williams was a victim of a worse response than in most other similar cases. Next time maybe Williams should just kill the line judge. It’s no big deal.
hahahaa who knew tennis could be so incredibly badass??
I’m sure that’s how she was trained no different from any other game I can understand how she feels. Sorry for the outburst but it’s what they call caught up in the moment.
So she was trained to threaten line judges? And I’m sorry it’s a little disingenuous to pretend that when anyone is talking about soccer (football) hooligans, they are even considering American soccer. Sadly, there barely is any american soccer in any sustainable form. Oh and for the record there are championship riots in numerous cities for numerous sports not just Detroit. What threatens you so much about those comments? It was great to see the McEnroe/nastase us open blowup during the rain delay this weekend. Talk about tennis hooligans!
Ok, even if they can’t get to the bottom of what the exact comment was, the horrible call remains. This line-judge should never be allowed to work a major tournament for the rest of her life.
Typical animalistic response from that animal.