NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 12: Serena Williams (R) is disqualified during the Women's Singles Semifinal match against to Kim Clijsters of Belgium on day thirteen of the 2009 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 12, 2009 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
That was embarassing.
Of course everyone knows what happened at the end of the Serena Williams-Kim Clijsters semifinal at the US Open last night. For those that didn’t, here’s the recap:
What the video doesn’t show is that Serena was given a warning for breaking her racquet when she lost the first set. The next step is a point penalty which is what Serena got which just happened to come at match point.
All around the internet today people who would be casual fans at best are complaining about how Serena was treated and how rules are unfairly applied to different players. Let’s take a look at what some of the people are saying.
The first complaint is that a foot fault shouldn’t have been called at that point in the match. Really? A foot fault should be called everytime, regardless of whether it’s the first point or the last. Had Serena not been called and hit a serve that clipped the line for an ace or a service winner, would that have not been unfair? Would it not be unfair if Serena had hit a serve that was called good but in fact missed by half an inch wide or long? A foot fault isn’t a judgement call or at least it shouldn’t be one. Venus was called for seven foot faults in her match against Vera Dushevina in the first round. Even Serena said she most likely foot faulted in her post match press conference:
“I’m pretty sure I did,” she said. “If she called a foot fault, she must have seen a foot fault. I mean, she was doing her job. I’m not going to knock her for not doing her job.”
The second compaint is that people say a lot worse to umpires and get away with it. The truth is, they don’t. Players can argue all they want at an umpire and not get a warning. Calling an umpire or line judge blind or stupid isn’t enough for a code violation. Andy Roddick can’t seem to go a single match without arguing with an umpire. John McEnroe is a perfect example of arguing with umpires, as is Jimmy Conners. However, once a player swears at, intimidates, or threatens an official, it’s big trouble. Serena, after calmy getting a ball from a ball boy, went over and swore constantly at the judge and within a few feet of her, was shaking her racquet and ball in her direction. The judge had no decision, and it may not have been her decision as she may have been called over to the chair by the chair umpire, I don’t know, I didn’t see if she was or not. What makes it worse is that Serena didn’t just swear, she screamed it. Sports Illustrated writer SL Price was sitting in the press row, 15 rows up from the court and heard it clearly. Put your hand over your mouth and swear under your breath is one thing, say it loud enough for the fans to hear, and you’re asking for a Code Violation, just as John McEnroe:
Another complaint is that people are confused about Serena getting a Code Violation for breaking her racquet and see players throw their racquets all the time and not get penalized. There is a difference between throwing and breaking. If a player throws their racquet and it cracks or breaks, it’s an automatic Code Violation, you can’t play with the racquet anymore so you get a warning. Serena didn’t throw her racquet, she smashed it. It’s not a judgement call on the behalf of the chair umpire, it’s an automatic rule.
There are other complaints about race or gender. People have said that if Federer or Nadal had acted like that, they wouln’t have been penalized. Roger may have acted like that in his younger days but not now. Sure he smashed his racquet in Miami but never confronted an umpire. Maybe someone else has seen him argue with a judge, I don’t know, I haven’t seen all his matches over his last 6 years, but I would doubt he said anything close to what Serena came up with last night. Same goes for Nadal.
People would love to pin this on the line judge, or on the chair umpire or the tournament officials. When it comes down to it, Serena Williams alone cost herself the match. Her behaviour was inappropriate for a tennis match, of course other sports fans will say they have seen worse in baseball, football or basketball but these are the rules in tennis.
It’s going to get worse for Serena as an investigation is now underway into her actions. Serena said she wouldn’t apologize to the line judge in her post match press conference but I bet she will soon. A heavy fine will be brought against her and had this taken place in a WTA Tour event and not a Grand Slam, a suspension would be almost certain.
Jelena Jankovic SRB (1) v Yvonne Meusburger AUT
Kirsten Flipkens BEL v Rossana De Los Rios PAR
Nathalie Dechy FRA v Qualifier
Qualifier v Ai Sugiyama JPN (26)
Sybille Bammer AUT (24) v Lucie Safarova CZE
Petra Cetkovska CZE v Marina Erakovic NZL
Qualifier v Tsvetana Pironkova BUL
Melanie South GBR v Marion Bartoli FRA (16)
Nadia Petrova RUS (10) v Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ
Sania Mirza IND v Marta Domachowska POL
Karin Knapp ITA v Monika Wejnert AUS
Galina Voskoboeva KAZ v Agnes Szavay HUN (23)
Maria Kirilenko RUS (27) v Sara Errani ITA
Monica Niculescu ROU v Qualifier
Maria Elena Camerin ITA v Edina Gallovits ROU
Magdalena Rybarikova SVK v Vera Zvonareva RUS (7)
Dinara Safina RUS (3) v Alla Kudryavtseva RUS
Ekaterina Makarova RUS v Aravane Rezai FRA
Qualifier v Patricia Mayr AUT
Qualifier v Kaia Kanepi EST (25)
Daniela Hantuchova SVK (19) v Casey Dellacqua AUS
Jill Craybas USA v Mathilde Johansson FRA
Andrea Petkovic GER v Qualifier
Mariya Koryttseva UKR v Alize Cornet FRA (15)
Caroline Wozniacki DEN (11) v Shahar Peer ISR
Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP v Mariana Duque Marino COL
Jelena Dokic AUS v Tamira Paszek AUT
Anne Keothavong GBR v Anna Chakvetadze RUS (17)
Alisa Kleybanova RUS (29) v Sofia Arvidsson SWE
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA v Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE
Yanina Wickmayer BEL v Qualifier
Julia Goerges GER v Ana Ivanovic SRB (5)
Venus Williams USA (6) v Angelique Kerber GER
Carla Suarez Navarro ESP v Roberta Vinci ITA
Qualifier v Akgul Amanmuradova UZB
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP v Tamarine Tanasugarn THA (32)
Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP (21) v Isabella Holland AUS
Elena Vesnina RUS v Julie Coin FRA
Jessica Moore AUS v Christina McHale USA
Mara Santangelo ITA v Flavia Pennetta ITA (12)
Patty Schnyder SUI (14) v Kristina Mladenovic FRA
Jarmila Gajdosova AUS v Virginie Razzano FRA
Su-Wei Hsieh TPE v Yung-Jan Chan TPE
Qualifier v Dominika Cibulkova SVK (18)
Aleksandra Wozniak CAN (30) v Sabine Lisicki GER
Samantha Stosur AUS v Klara Zakopalova CZE
Vera Dushevina RUS v Iveta Benesova CZE
Kristina Barrois GER v Elena Dementieva RUS (4)
Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (8) v Anastasia Rodionova AUS
Tatjana Malek GER v Ayumi Morita JPN
Nicole Vaidisova CZE v Severine Bremond FRA
Olivia Rogowska AUS v Alona Bondarenko UKR (31)
Jie Zheng CHN (22) v Camille Pin FRA
Sorana Cirstea ROU v Melinda Czink HUN
Ekaterina Bychkova RUS v Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP
Kateryna Bondarenko UKR v Agnieszka Radwanska POL (9)
Victoria Azarenka BLR (13) v Petra Kvitova CZE
Tathiana Garbin ITA v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS
Qualifier v Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER
Olga Govortsova BLR v Amelie Mauresmo FRA (20)
Francesca Schiavone ITA (28) v Shuai Peng CHN
Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP v Qualifier
Anastasiya Yakimova BLR v Gisela Dulko ARG
Meng Yuan CHN v Serena Williams USA (2)
Looking at Jelena Jankovic’s quarter, she definitely got the easiest of the top 4 seeds. Jelena doesn’t have any real threats here as the top players in her group are Nadia Petrova, Agnes Szavay, Maria Kirilenko and Vera Zvonareva.
Dinara Safina opens against Alla Kudryavtseva who is no stranger to playing a top seed in a Slam. However, Safina won’t go down as easy as Sharapova did at Wimbledon and Dinara will pass this first test. It will get much tougher from there though. Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic are also in her quarter as is a highly motivated Tamira Paszek. Paszek hasn’t yet lived up to her promise and would love to break through here.
Elena Dementieva is going to have to work her way through the draw as she could face vera Dushevina in the second round then Aleksandra Wozniak in the third. Patty Schnyder awaits in the fourth round and Venus Williams in the quarters.
Serena Williams will be tested in the fourth round as Amelie Mauresmo, Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Victoria Azarenka are her possible round of 16 opponent. The quarterfinals could have Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nicole Vaidisova or Agnieszka Radwanska.
Predictions
Quarterfinals Jankovic def. Kirilenko
Safina def. Wozniacki
Dementieva def. Williams
Williams def. Radwanska
Semifinals Jankovic def. Safina
Dementieva def. Williams
Finals Jankovic def. Dementieva
First Round Match to Watch Caroline Wozniacki vs. Shahar Peer. Peer is unseeded and desperate to get back into the top 20. She could give Wozniacki a tough match.
Dark Horses and Players Who Need a Breakthrough Shahar Peer, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Kirilenko and Tamira Paszek.
Rafael Nadal ESP (1) v Christophe Rochus BEL
Florent Serra FRA v Roko Karanusic CRO
Eduardo Schwank ARG v Tommy Haas GER
Qualifier v Dmitry Tursunov RUS (29)
Richard Gasquet FRA (24) v Diego Junqueira ARG
Vincent Spadea USA v Denis Istomin UZB
Guillermo Canas ARG v Nicolas Kiefer GER
Lleyton Hewitt AUS v Fernando Gonzalez CHI (13)
Gael Monfils FRA (12) v Martin Vassallo Arguello ARG
Mikhail Youzhny RUS v Stefan Koubek AUT
Andrey Golubev KAZ v Fabio Fognini ITA
Nicolas Massu CHI v Nicolas Almagro ESP (17)
Ivo Karlovic CRO (25) v Daniel Gimeno-Traver ESP
Filippo Volandri ITA v Mario Ancic CRO
Chris Guccione AUS v Nicolas Devilder FRA
Pablo Andujar ESP v Gilles Simon FRA (6)
Andy Murray GBR (4) v Andrei Pavel ROU
Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS v Marcel Granollers ESP
Qualifier v Colin Ebelthite AUS
Kei Nishikori JPN v Jurgen Melzer AUT (31)
Radek Stepanek CZE (22) v Nicolas Lapentti ECU
Qualifier v Carsten Ball AUS
Sergiy Stakhovsky UKR v Arnaud Clement FRA
Adrian Mannarino FRA v Fernando Verdasco ESP (14)
James Blake USA (9) v Qualifier
Qualifier v Steve Darcis BEL
Albert Montanes ESP v Ernests Gulbis LAT
Qualifier v Igor Andreev RUS (18)
Rainer Schuettler GER (30) v Qualifier
Victor Hanescu ROU v Jan Hernych CZE
Ivan Ljubicic CRO v Igor Kunitsyn RUS
Juan Monaco ARG v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (5)
Andy Roddick USA (7) v Qualifier
Qualifier v Michael Llodra FRA
Juan Carlos Ferrero ESP v Fabrice Santoro FRA
Sam Querrey USA v Philipp Kohlschreiber GER (32)
Tommy Robredo ESP (21) v Bobby Reynolds USA
Alberto Martin ESP v Viktor Troicki SRB
Thomaz Bellucci BRA v Yen-Hsun Lu TPE
Marc Gicquel FRA v David Nalbandian ARG (10)
Robin Soderling SWE (16) v Robert Kendrick USA
Julien Benneteau FRA v Marcos Baghdatis CYP
Simone Bolelli ITA v Kristof Vliegen BEL
Samuel Groth AUS v Mardy Fish USA (23)
Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA (28) v Jarkko Nieminen FIN
Taylor Dent USA v Qualifier
Jeremy Chardy FRA v Marcos Daniel BRA
Qualifier v Novak Djokovic SRB (3)
Juan Martin Del Potro ARG (8) v Mischa Zverev GER
Qualifier v Qualifier
Potito Starace ITA v Bernard Tomic AUS
Gilles Muller LUX v Feliciano Lopez ESP (27)
Marin Cilic CRO (19) v Kevin Anderson RSA
Oscar Hernandez ESP v Janko Tipsarevic SRB
Qualifier v John Isner USA
Denis Gremelmayr GER v David Ferrer ESP (11)
Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (15) v Ivo Minar CZE
Qualifier v Brydan Klein AUS
Brian Dabul ARG v Philipp Petzschner GER
Robby Ginepri USA v Tomas Berdych CZE (20)
Marat Safin RUS (26) v Ivan Navarro ESP
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez ESP v Agustin Calleri ARG
Qualifier v Carlos Moya ESP
Andreas Seppi ITA v Roger Federer SUI (2)
This is not the draw that Rafael Nadal wanted. A third round matchup could involve Tommy Haas, Eduardo Schwank or Dmitry Tursunov. While none may stop Nadal from advancing, they could push him to 4 sets before a probable fourth round match against Richard Gasquet, Lleyton Hewitt or 2007 finalist Gonzalez but it will most likely be Gasquet who has been playing very well lately. Waiting in the quarterfinals is 12th seeded Gael Monfils who upset Nadal in Qatar a couple of weeks ago. Nadal hasn’t been in top form so far this year and if he isn’t ready, Monfils could take advantage and knock Nadal out.
Andy Murray is playing great tennis so far and his improved fitness seems to be paying off. Still, there are a couple of players in his quarter he needs to be ready for. Kei Nishikori could be his third round opponent. Nishikori solidified his spot as a player to watch and he would love nothing more than to continue his rise by taking care of Murray but it’s unlikely. James Blake, the 9th seed, could cause some trouble but I can’t imagine he’s going to get the chance to play Murray. Instead, last year’s finalist, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could be big trouble. Tsonga’s main concern is to stay healthy and his lower back has been causing problems. More likely is the biggest dark horse in the field, Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis has been lurking around for the last year and is ready to make a run. Murray needs to be on top of his game or Gulbis will send him home.
Novak Djokovic has a pretty easy time until a possible match with Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. The biggest potential problem for Novak is 16th seeded Robin Soderling. Soderling can be dangerous as shown in his epic 5 set match against Nadal at Wimbledon in 2007 but he is also inconsistent. Depending on what Soderling shows up, Novak could cruise or be in for a 5 set marathon. Andy Roddick on the other hand should have an easy time until facing David Nalbandian in the fourth round. Nalbandian is coming off a title win which gives him a lot of confidence but it may not be enough against a highly motivated Roddick.
I’m pretty surprised that many think Roger Federer has a tough draw. Federer just beat Carlos Moya in Kooyong and Moya is well past his prime and not to mention it has been 12 years since Moya broke out and reached the finals here. Roger could face Marat Safin but unless it is the same Safin who beat Federer here in the semifinals a few years ago or the Safin that upended Djokovic at Wimbledon, it should be a fairly easy win for Roger. The biggest problem would come in the quarterfinals in the form of Juan Martin Del Potro or Marin Cilic. Del Potro won the title in Auckland and has lots of confidence, it will be interesting to see how he fares against Roger.
I’m going out on a limb here to pick Monfils upsetting Murray but given that Murray has only twice gotten past the fourth round at a Slam and while he has played great so far this year, it’s always different to play a Slam. The pressure is more intense and for Murray, the focus of an entire nation watching you, criticizing you, praising you as you get further and further into a tournament is going to be something to see. For the first time, he is going to be the favourite to win a Slam and to see him handle the pressure will be interesting.
First round match to watch: Hewitt vs. Gonzalez. Are you starting to think that Hewitt is getting tired of these 5 set marathons?
Dark Horses and Players Who Need A Breakthrough
Ernests Gulbis, Robin Soderling, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils and Marcos Baghdatis. Baghdatis broke through here in a big way and did well for a year afterwards but really needs to get back on track.
Jelena Jankovic is the top seed this week at the Bangalore Open. Other seeds include Maria Kirilenko and Agnes Szavay.
JANKOVIC, Jelena SRB vs. BYE
CHAN, Yung-Jan TPE vs. MAMIC, Sanda CRO
O’BRIEN, Katie GBR vs. SAVCHUK, Olga UKR
YAN, Zi CHN vs. KIRILENKO, Maria RUS SCHNYDER, Patty SUI vs. BYE
NAKAMURA, Aiko JPN vs. TANASUGARN, Tamarine THA
AMANMURADOVA, Akgul UZB vs. SHVEDOVA, Yaroslava RUS
UBEROI, Shikha IND vs. SZAVAY, Agnes HUN BAMMER, Sybille AUT vs. MORIGAMI, Akiko JPN
RODIONOVA, Anastasia RUS vs. QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER vs. OBZILER, Tzipora ISR
BYE vs. WILLIAMS, Serena USA ZVONAREVA, Vera RUS vs. QUALIFIER
LAKHANI, Isha IND vs. QUALIFIER
KREMER, Anne LUX vs. PENG, Shuai CHN
BYE vs. WILLIAMS, Venus USA
WILLIAMS, Venus USA vs. KVITOVA, Petra CZE
SCHULTZ-MCCARTHY, Brenda NED vs. KUDRYAVTSEVA, Alla RUS
LIU, Amber USA vs. FEDAK, Yuliana UKR
ERAKOVIC, Marina NZL vs. GRANVILLE, Laura USA DAVENPORT, Lindsay USA vs. LISICKI, Sabine GER
RODINA, Evgeniya RUS vs. YAKIMOVA, Anastasiya BLR
COHEN-ALORO, Stephanie FRA vs. LARCHERDE BRITO, Michelle POR
SEQUERA, Milagros VEN vs. WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN ARVIDSSON, Sofia SWE vs. BREMOND, Severine FRA
KING, Vania USA vs. DUBOIS, Stephanie CAN
POUTCHKOVA, Olga RUS vs. CZINK, Melinda HUN
ROLLE, Ahsha USA vs. PEER, Shahar ISR GOVORTSOVA, Olga BLR vs. WASHINGTON, Mashona USA
VORACOVA, Renata CZE vs. ANI, Maret EST
GOERGES, Julia GER vs. OSTERLOH, Lilia USA
MATTEK, Bethanie USA vs. GOLOVIN, Tatiana FRA
HENIN, Justine BEL vs. BYE
PETROVA, Nadia RUS vs. QUALIFIER
BAMMER, Sybille AUT vs. QUALIFIER
SCHIAVONE, Francesca ITA vs. BARTOLI, Marion FRA IVANOVIC, Ana SRB vs. BYE
QUALIFIER vs. VAIDISOVA, Nicole CZE
KIRILENKO, Maria RUS vs. BONDARENKO, Alona UKR
SCHNYDER, Patty SUI vs. DEMENTIEVA, Elena RUS CHAKVETADZE, Anna RUS vs. QUALIFIER
SFAR, Selima TUN vs. SAFINA, Dinara RUS
MIRZA, Sania IND vs. QUALIFIER
BYE vs. JANKOVIC, Jelena SRB SHARAPOVA, Maria RUS vs. SZAVAY, Agnes HUN
MAURESMO, Amelie FRA vs. QUALIFIER
SAFAROVA, Lucie CZE vs. LI, Na CHN
BYE vs. KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana RUS
Ivanovic vs. BYE
Govortsova vs. Mirza
Garbin vs. Qualifier
Morigami vs. Radwanska
Schnyder vs. Paszek
Safarova vs. Cibulkova
Knapp vs. Goerges
BYE vs. Williams
Sharapova vs. BYE
Bondarenko vs. Daniilidou
Kerver vs. Qualifier
Lisicko vs. Mauresmo
Petrova vs. Medina Garrigues
Kirilenko vs. Qualifier
CHan vs. Wozniacki
BYE vs. Bartoli
Chatvetadze vs. BYE
Li vs. Likhovtseva
Qualifier vs. Razzano
Schiavone vs. Peer
Szavay vs. Sugiyama
Qualifier vs. Vesnina
Qualifier vs. Qualifier
BYE vs. Jankovic
Hantuchova vs. BYE
Zvonareva vs. Rodionova
Dushevina vs. Yan
Srebotnik vs. Safina
Bammer vs. Nakamura
Qualifier vs. Bondarenko
Dechy vs. Peng
BYE vs. Kuznetsova
The draw for this week’s Proximus Diamond Games was released:
HENIN, Justine BEL vs. BYE
KREMER, Anne LUX vs. QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER vs. BONDARENKO, Kateryna UKR
DANIILIDOU, Eleni GRE vs. SZAVAY, Agnes HUN
HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK vs. BYE
PENG, Shuai CHN vs. WICKMAYER, Yanina BEL
GOVORTSOVA, Olga BLR vs. QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER vs. BONDARENKO, Alona UKR
BAMMER, Sybille AUT vs. SHVEDOVA, Yaroslava RUS
KNAPP, Karin ITA vs. DECHY, Nathalie FRA
MAES, Caroline BEL vs. SUGIYAMA, Ai JPN
BYE vs. SCHNYDER, Patty SUI
LI, Na CHN vs. LIKHOVTSEVA, Elena RUS
CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK vs. OBZILER, Tzipora ISR
TU, Meilen USA vs. QUALIFIER
BYE vs. CHAKVETADZE, Anna
We thought Jelena had a chance, Chakvetadze didn’t. Jelena Jankovic’s last hopes of taking a big title home this year have been dashed by Anna Chakvetadze. Anna took the first set 6-4 then got blanked 6-0 in the second before closing Jankovic out in the third 6-3. Jelena certainly had her chances but served poorly especially in the big moments.
Chakvetadze finishes with a 2-1 win/loss record while Jankovic fell to 0-2. Jelena’s last chance to get a win will be against Marion Bartoli on Friday.
