Serena Williams was defeated by Sam Stosur in the final of the 2011 US Open on the weekend. She was outplayed by the Australian, but the talking point of the match was her outburst and abuse of the chair umpire.
The tirade was the result of a less well-known technical rule in tennis. Williams shouted while the ball was still in play, thinking that she had hit a clear winner. However Stosur got a racket to the ball, and acccording to the rules the point was awarded to her. This had actually already happened to another player earlier in the tournament.
Those are the rules. Simple. This was explained to Williams, but she decided that it was some sort of a personal vendetta against her and launched into a disgraceful verbal attack on the umpire.
She has been in spotlight before, following her aggressive verbal attack on an official at the 2009 US Open.
Williams’ is one of the most dominant and talented players the game has seen. But her attitude and conduct is an utter disgrace. She has a sense that she is bigger than the game and that whenever things don’t go her way people are out to get her. She needs to get over herself. The true greats of sport are humble in victory and gracious in defeat. Serena Williams is increasingly perceived as neither. She doesn’t need to look far for a role model, with her sister Venus being a great advertisement for the game.
I hope that she cops a significant ban and fine for her conduct. This sort of disrespect and aggression is pathetic and indefensible in any sport. She deserves all the criticism that she is getting and the cloud deserves to hang over her for a while.
What do you think?
This was the event in the 2009 US open:
Balls on the line 