Who’s Afraid of Serena Williams?

Notice, the earrings are off. Time for a Compton-style beat down!Apparently, line officials, as Serena allegedly told one she’d shove this ball down her throat after a disputed call that eventually would give the match and the path to the US Open finals to a rejuvinated Kim Clijsters. I’m on Team Williams, but damn Serena. I thought you were mad when Henin screwed you over at that 2003 French Open semi-final and she straight up lied to an official. You proved me there are levels of John McEnroe-esque anger that you have not even begun to tap into.

More after the jump.

From Huffington Post:

With Williams serving at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set, she faulted on her first serve. On the second serve, a line judge called a foot fault, making it a double-fault — a call rarely, if ever, seen at that stage of any match, let alone the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

That made the score 15-40, putting Clijsters one point from victory.

Instead of stepping to the baseline to serve again, Williams went over and shouted and cursed at the line judge, pointing at her and thrusting the ball toward her.

“If I could, I would take this … ball and shove it down your … throat,” Williams said.

She continued yelling at the line judge, and went back over, shaking her racket in the official’s direction.

Asked in her postmatch news conference what she said to the line judge, Williams wouldn’t say, replying, “What did I say? You didn’t hear?”

“I’ve never been in a fight in my whole life, so I don’t know why she would have felt threatened,” Williams said with a smile.

The line judge went over to the chair umpire, and tournament referee Brian Earley joined in the conversation. With the crowd booing — making part of the dialogue inaudible — Williams then went over and said to the line judge: “Sorry, but there are a lot of people who’ve said way worse.” Then the line judge said something to the chair umpire, and Williams responded, “I didn’t say I would kill you. Are you serious? I didn’t say that.” The line judge replied by shaking her head and saying, “Yes.”

Williams already had been give a code violation warning when she broke her racket after losing the first set. So the chair umpire now awarded a penalty point to Clijsters, ending the match.

To see more pictures of the match from Daylife, click here.

daniellebelton

34 responses to “Who’s Afraid of Serena Williams?”

  1. LeJamaal Goldberg Avatar
    LeJamaal Goldberg

    In light of Maureen O’Dowd’s allegation that Joe Wilson’s outburst against Pres. Obama was racially motivated,perhaps so too was Serena’s rant. Maybe Serena cannot believe an Asian could be a line judge in professional tennis? So why aren’t people railing about Serena’s racism against asians? But this would never happen – the "black" race card trumps everything else, asian, gay, jew, etc.

    Reply
  2. oci23 Avatar
    oci23

    um, what the hell are you talking about? are you seriously comparing the two situations?!?!?!? a speech to the congressional body versus a tennis match?!?!?! even if you don’t believe wilson’s outburst is racially motivated, i KNOW you truly don’t think that serena’s outburst had to do with the fact that the line judge was asian and not the fact that this would cost her a trip to the finals of the us open.whoa, buddy. get it together.

    Reply
  3. malted_tea Avatar
    malted_tea

    What’s being Asian got to do with it? In any case, her behaviour was out of line regardless of the judge’s or official’s heritage.

    Reply
  4. Monica Avatar
    Monica

    It was my understanding that it was a bad call. That coupled with the fact that Serena was losing anything probably lead to a lot of frustration and resulting in a over-reaction. Apparently, black women aren’t allowed to have those.

    Reply
  5. Aabaakawad Avatar
    Aabaakawad

    She shoulda just yelled "You lie!"Does anybody know if the call was legit?

    Reply
  6. khethu xaba Avatar
    khethu xaba

    I always knew that serena ripped her aponents to shreds, but even i didnt expect that- kudos to serena for keeping it real. funnily enough her rant has made me like her even more. the body language and raised voice were indicative of a beat down that was about to ensue. classic!

    Reply
  7. David Wise Avatar
    David Wise

    Calling Serena’s actions racist was whacked and not worthy of a response. Serena needs to keep cool, though, because it’s already hard to get the endorsements that lesser qualified blond female tennis pros pick up easily.

    Reply
  8. BluTopaz Avatar
    BluTopaz

    @ lejamal person: So now Serena is racist against Asians, are you kidding me?! Who are all these individuals showing up on Black sites this year screaming about the "race card" anyway? When did the memo go out that anytime Black people react to anything, this mythical race card is to be invoked? Was anyone talking about this race card when the Williams girls and their father were abused with racial slurs in Indian Wells, or when white americans cheer their white opponents and call the Serena and Venus primates-or is that just business as usual? Serena is human-the language was uncalled for and ugly, but since last night I have read on a few boards where folks are saying she should be arrested for verbal assault, and should apologize again-smdh. And those are the least ugly comments, you can imagine the racist remarks calling her entire family everything but a child of God. Are these people playing the race card also or just practicing free speech? I’m about real tired of this darkies stay in your place theme this year.

    Reply
  9. David Wise Avatar
    David Wise

    You gotta realize that sometimes anglos enter this site with fake-sounding ethnic names (LaJamaal, etc.) just so they can voice their racist or quasi racist viewpoints.

    Reply
  10. Kelly Avatar
    Kelly

    Serena’s angry outburst was most likely due to her ego not being able to handle the fact that she was losing to someone who had been out of Tennis for 2 years. She went way too far, she didn’t berate the woman for the bad call, she threatened physical harm. That’s wrong no matter what race, creed or color.

    Reply
  11. th Avatar
    th

    @malted_tea you never fail to have something negative to say about black americansyou really need to look at your sour attitude or just stay off a blog about black americans

    Reply
  12. BluTopaz Avatar
    BluTopaz

    Yeah I was thinking with the corny urban name that it was someone too cowardly to say this kind of crap IRL. The projection trend here lately of lets pretend Blacks are as racist as White racists merely for addressing racism is really ticking me off. Double standards have always been around but now it’s on another level. Serena was as wrong as 2 left shoes, and these people are falling over themselves to have this define her and disregard all of her accomplishments. At the end of the video showing the whole thing when Serena was walking off the court a White female in the audience about 2 feet away from Serena shouted something at her with her face snarled in anger-don’t know what she said but I wonder if she would have the guts to do that to Serena away from cameras and crowds of people.

    Reply
  13. malted_tea Avatar
    malted_tea

    @ th Hun? Not excusing cussing on is a direct attack on all things Black America? Not that I’m an avid tennis watcher but it wasn’t cool to me when John McEnroe did it back in the day (mid-80s?) and it’s not fine now, either. It’s just unsportsmanlike. Furthermore, there are others in this thread who agree that Serena’s behaviour went too far so why pick on wee ole me?Come on now, let’s play Romper Room nice, th. I’m harmless most of the time as are you, I’m sure.

    Reply
  14. Kadeem Avatar
    Kadeem

    Wrong is wrong. But why is it that every time a person of African descent gets mad – self-expression is deemed life threatening? I mean c’mon. Did the line referee really feel threatened for her life? Are we to believe that she feared Serena was going to take that ball and really cram it down her throat? I work in a mostly European-based environment and anytime a person of color gets excited and begins to express themselves – the angry black woman/man stereotype sends people running.

    Reply
  15. swiv Avatar
    swiv

    did she say something in regards to the judge being asian? i’m confused.

    Reply
  16. swiv Avatar
    swiv

    if i say "if i could, i’d kill your ass" would that count as a threat? saying what she said was wrong. and had no business in a tennis match.the line judge doesn’t know serena from a can of paint, so how the hell would the line judge know that she’s never been in a fight?

    Reply
  17. Charm Brown Avatar
    Charm Brown

    I agree with Kadeem. It does seem that everytime a person of color gets mad, it is deemed as an angry black woman (usually, but men do it too) on a rampage. While Serena’s comment falls along the lines of unsportsmanlike conduct, it is in no way a believable threat. In any race, heritage, or nationality angry self-expression may come with a threat of physical harm but lets be realistic. Unsportsmanlike, yes. Life-threatening, no.

    Reply
  18. snobfanforeal' Avatar
    snobfanforeal’

    Anyone else notice during the telecast of Serena’s blow up how quiet John McEnroe was? He’s been there. And done exactly that.

    Reply
  19. Scott Avatar
    Scott

    Charm Brown:Do you have ESP and can read Serena’s mind to know that the comment is not believable? Besides, does it really matter, I mean just making a threat of bodily harm is bad enough

    Reply
  20. Charm Brown Avatar
    Charm Brown

    Scott:Making a threat of bodily harm is bad enough, true. I made my comment based on the fact that if she really wanted to someone, she would. Thats not ESP, that’s human nature. Still and all, her behavior was inappropriate.

    Reply
  21. Charm Brown Avatar
    Charm Brown

    (Reposting due to accidental omission)Scott:Making a threat of bodily harm is bad enough, true. I made my comment based on the fact that if she really wanted to hurt someone, she would. Thats not ESP, that’s human nature. Still and all, her behavior was inappropriate.

    Reply
  22. Aabaakawad Avatar
    Aabaakawad

    It’s the threat, not the believability. One thing might also color it is that, besides the usual black and dangerous stereotype, Serena is one of the few women’s tennis players that actually is physically capable of cramming said tennis ball. This isn’t a knock on her, I am simply impressed.I don’t follow women’s tennis much, but this kind of outburst is quite rare, isn’t it? Or have I just not been paying enough attention?I wish they had been harder on McEnroe during his fits. He was such an embarrassment.

    Reply
  23. Althea Avatar
    Althea

    I watched this match live. It was a horrible call. Serena got ganked. Pure and simple, and she was pissed. Now honestly, Kim C. was kicking her butt, and she probably was going to lose, but b/c of the bad call, Serena never got the chance to lose or win honestly. Altheawww.therawmochaangel.blogspot.com

    Reply
  24. swiv Avatar
    swiv

    ^^^^^ so does that excuse piss poo behaviour from professional? what would happen to any of us had we done something similar in our places of employment?

    Reply
  25. Sandra Avatar
    Sandra

    swiv: you can’t watch much professional tennis or professional sports if you think Serena’s tirade was so off the charts. What would you say about Andy Roddick’s tirades? Or Marat Safin’s? In tennis, certain players get more respect than others. Such a call would never have been made against Roger Federer, but it would get made against Rafael Nadal. Such a call wouldn’t have been made against Roger Federer or this year’s golden girl Melanie Oudin. It’s just another lie that all players get treated the same way.

    Reply
  26. swiv Avatar
    swiv

    i didn’t say it wasn’t the norm. it’s still piss poor behavior. it’s piss poor behavior whenever it happens.

    Reply
  27. Scott Avatar
    Scott

    Sandra:There is a difference between calling the line officials blind, deaf, dumb or stupid, etc., and threatening them with violence. Now that being said, I don’t excuse any player from saying anything to any official at a sporting event. As for all players being treated equally, no one said they were. Officials keep their eye on some players more than others based on their reputation. By the way, John McEnroe was suspended and fined for his behavior.

    Reply
  28. erica Avatar
    erica

    With Kim C winning, this is exactly what the tennis public wanted. From the time she return to playing tennis they( the tennis commentators) couldn’t shut their mouths with the whole she had a baby blah, blah, blah……. first mother to win blah,blah,blah. I guess I should be looking out for the Lifetime Movie. NOT!

    Reply
  29. Althea Avatar
    Althea

    I’m going to quote another from the Huffington Post:<<First, you don’t call a foot fault at that point in a game. You just don’t. Just like you don’t call fouls in the last few minutes of a basketball game. You turn it over to the players and let the players determine the outcome. This person should be re-trained. Not, fired, because everyone needs a job right about now.Second, Serena was losing to the better player. She didn’t know how to handle her deep groundstokes or her steely play. That, imo, is why Serena lost it more than anything else. She was probably frustrated that she was about to lose her crown (defending champion and all) and this person makes a totally bad call. Looking at Serena and the lines person side by side, and it could have been worse.>>I’m still on Serena’s side. She plays to win at Grand Slams, as she has done many times over. She was losing, to a woman who beat her sister. She was frustated. Her win is slipping away in front of her. Then a crappy, s&^% call gives the game to Kim C. Could she have handled it better? Yes. But I could understand her frustration. Altheawww.therawmochaangel.blogspot.com

    Reply
  30. renee Avatar
    renee

    go figure

    Reply
  31. Indy Mike Avatar
    Indy Mike

    It was definately a racial slur. If you watched it live, Serena also called the line judge a slant-eyed idiot.And yes…if some beast crams a tennis ball down your throat, you will die.

    Reply
  32. blah Avatar
    blah

    Indy Mike, Are you joking? She said no such thing and you comment reveals some of the things that she and her sister have to deal with on a daily bases

    Reply
  33. Djohnson Avatar
    Djohnson

    As a man of color I have to digress slightly here. At first I agreed that this was a typical reaction towards blacks and sports. However, Serena did threaten that woman. "Ill shove this ball don’t your M**** F*** throat!" Come on people. When we screw up, even in a racist world, we need to "MAN UP" or "WOMAN UP" and admit it. That’s the fastest and best way to maintain your respect, dignity, and still positively influence our young folks that look up to us. We have to keep it real all the way around!

    Reply
  34. just saying Avatar
    just saying

    "did she say something in regards to the judge being asian? i'm confused."Racism is covert nowadays, if she's being honest with herself, she'd admit she's racist against asians but racist people simply can't admit when they're racist.

    Reply

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