The Blemish

Serena Williams fined $10,000 for outburst

By , 10:22 AM on Sep 14, 2009, 1 Comment

Turns out you can’t just go around telling line judges, “I swear to God I’ll fucking take this ball and shove it down your fucking throat! Do you hear me? I swear to God. You better be glad–you better be fucking glad that I’m not, I swear,” during a semifinals game at the US Open. I mean, you could, but you might be fined and lose the match like did.

Williams battled Kim Clijsters during a semifinal match on Sunday when she blew up after being called for a foot fault which resulted in a double fault. A point penalty was given for the outburst which gave Kim the win. Serena was also fined $10,000 and an investigation has been opened to look into her “threatening manner.” In addition, another $500 was taken away for Serena smashing her racket after the first set of the match.

People just don’t understand. Sometimes you get emotional during a tennis match. Like last week when I was losing to this 13-year-old, I got so mad I smashed the racket over my knee. Apparently rolling on the floor clutching your knee and crying isn’t as intimidating as you think.

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  • Kt D

    While I think the call was incorrect and I would likely be highly upset as well, threatening the line judge like that is just plain wrong. Therefore, she certainly deserves this huge fine she is getting. It was, unquestionably, a huge violation.
    Now, I also think that many people have made similar mistakes and huge, outlandish reactions to sports calls before. Even violent ones. And a lot of those people are men–while they SHOULD be called out on their actions as well, and generally are, I do not think they receive nearly as much media attention as Serena is now receiving. Perhaps it is because there ARE less women athletes who get angry or overreact to a bad call. Society tells them that they certainly should not be angry or express themselves in such a manner. Honestly, the way Serena expressed herself is totally disrespectful/scary for anyone. But would a man be painted in this same light? What about a male athlete with a male line judge? Just some of my thoughts on this whole scenario.