"Serena makes fool of herself"

[Vault-emort]

No its not ludicrous, VE.

To me it is TD.

[TrackDaddy]

She lost her temper, jc.

I mean she's human, no? It happens. Thankfully in Serena's case its rare. One forgiveable lapse in judgment is no cause for abandoning her as a fan.

In fact, most everyone else I mentioned I'm still a fan of with the exception of Hingis and Capriati. You wanna talk about no class, neither have any. But even with McEnroe's outrageous outbursts I still found him entertaining, crafty and talented. Where's the hate for him? He's a very popular commentator to this day.

Serena deserves for this to only be a minor blip on her 11 grand slam victory resume.

[jazzcyclist]

TD, could you are someone else please enlighten me as to Hingis' boorish behavior during her career? I'm not saving that she hasn't ever acted like Serena did last night, but if she has, I'm not aware of it. However, I do know that she is probably the greatest trash talker in the history of women's tennis, but since Muhammad Ali is my all-time favorite athlete, I can't fault her for that. And to be honest, I used to look forward to her smack whenever the Grand Slam tournaments would roll around. Don't get me wrong, not all trash talk is funny. For example, some of Ali's Joe Frazier comments were mean-spirited and Hingis' Amélie Mauresmo comments were bigoted, but for the most part, trash talk makes me laugh.

[nevetsllim]

Hingis's behaviour at Roland Garros in 1999 wasn't exactly boorish but it was very brattish.

And in my opinion, Hingis's comments about Mauresmo were worse than Serena last night because I still maintain Serena got caught up in the heat of the moment (not that I'm condoning it).

[guru]

For the record McEnroe was defaulted out of the 1990 Australian Open.

[nevetsllim]

For the record McEnroe was defaulted out of the 1990 Australian Open.

And ironically, the last player to be defaulted at the US Open was Caroline Wozniacki, who will be contesting the women's final.

[jazzcyclist]

Hingis's behaviour at Roland Garros in 1999 wasn't exactly boorish but it was very brattish.

And in my opinion, Hingis's comments about Mauresmo were worse than Serena last night because I still maintain Serena got caught up in the heat of the moment (not that I'm condoning it).

As I stated earlier, I don't condone Hingis' Mauresmo comments, but I do differentiate between on-the-court conduct and off-the court conduct.

[guruof track]

This was an isolated incident. If someone can point me to another tirade that Serena has had (let alone three or four), then we have a legitimate beef. If not it seems people may be motivated by something else.

I can't help but think that because Serena is from Compton and doesn't look like majority of her counterparts, critics, fans, and commentators that somehows that plays a SERIOUS role in why she is taking the heat she is taking.

I'm not condoning her actions, but again its an isolated incident, on a call that was CLEARLY wrong.

[guru]

I can't help but think that because Serena is from Compton and doesn't look like majority of her counterparts, critics, fans, and commentators that somehows that plays a SERIOUS role in why she is taking the heat she is taking.

I'm not condoning her actions, but again its an isolated incident, on a call that was CLEARLY wrong.

There's nothing wrong with telling a line judge their call sucked. The problem comes in when you shake your racket and threaten to stuff a f**king tennis ball down their throat. And race has nothing to do with the response. Size might. I suspect if Martina Navratilova had ever done a similar thing in her prime she may have been arrested.

Also, I'm not sure that call was CLEARLY wrong. I haven't seen a definitive camera shot down the baseline or from above, only the one from behind Williams. Either way, at that point in a match a line judge has to use discretion for such a ticky-tack call, just as a basketball official isn't going to call a foul under the basket in the final seconds of a game for anything short of a decapitation.

[cullman]

The lines people are in way over their heads in these tournaments. Track officials are Einstein compared to this lot! I can't think of another professional sport where such unqualified officials are allowed make decisions.

Jimmy Connors is by far the most profane and ill mannered on court tennis player I have seen in person. One of his matches against Ramesh Krishnan was a pie hole spewing of racial, sexual and personal taunts that went unreprimanded. McEnroe was surly and insane...but nothing...nothing like Connors.

Serena will be reprimanded harshly for this outburst you can be sure but it is far from the worst that I have seen.

cman :?

[gm]

Considering Williams, the #2 ranked player in the world, was losing badly to Clijsters, an unranked and semi-retired player, no wonder she had an outburst. If only the linesperson had told her to shove that ball (and broken racket) where the sun don't shine, we could be done with this now and move on.

Instead, people will wring their hands for weeks about the implications.

[cullman]

There's nothing wrong with telling a line judge their call sucked. The problem comes in when you shake your racket and threaten to stuff a f**king tennis ball down their throat. And race has nothing to do with the response. Size might. I suspect if Martina Navratilova had ever done a similar thing in her prime she may have been arrested.

Hey...I've jumped over the net and threatened to tear an opponent's head and stuff his racquet down the opening...in front of his parents...without being arrested. Where's the beef?

cman :P

[jazzcyclist]

I'm Black and all of my family members who were at my house felt the same way I do. Furthermore, John Saunders and William C. Rhoden were as tough on her as the two White reporters on ESPN's Sports Reporters this morning. Saunders even said that this incident will follow her for the rest of her career. I really believe it's an abuse of the race card to play it in this case.

[guru]

Considering Williams, the #2 ranked player in the world, was losing badly to Clijsters, an unranked and semi-retired player, no wonder she had an outburst.

"Losing badly" would be an overstatement. They were still on serve in the 2nd set with Williams serving at 15-30. The foot fault double-fault at that point was huge, and gave Clijsters two match points(prior to the penalty point).

[TrackDaddy]

This was an isolated incident. If someone can point me to another tirade that Serena has had (let alone three or four), then we have a legitimate beef. If not it seems people may be motivated by something else.

I can't help but think that because Serena is from Compton and doesn't look like majority of her counterparts, critics, fans, and commentators that somehows that plays a SERIOUS role in why she is taking the heat she is taking.

I'm not condoning her actions, but again its an isolated incident, on a call that was CLEARLY wrong.

Regrettably this is what I see as well.

jc you said that Saunders said that this one incident will follow Serena for the rest of her career. I agree with that prediction.

Since for the most part its an isolated incident and she doesnt have a pattern of it, ask yourself why.

Why would this follow a player who's won 11 grand slams in 10 years?