Truth & Rumors > Tennis

Serena wrote letter to line judge

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Her only serious recent setback occurred at this year's US Open, when she was foot-faulted on a second serve when two points from defeat in her semi-final against [Kim] Clijsters. [Serena] Williams exploded in a fit of rage, cursing at the lineswoman and being penalised a point, handing the match to her opponent. "It was out of character and I really regret it," she says. "I am a passionate person and I just lost it because it was an iffy call at a key moment. I wrote the line judge a really long letter of apology and she understood."

Times Online

Serena Williams, AP Serena Williams, AP
October 27, 2009  08:59 PM ET

Serena wrote letter to line judge

Excuse me, buy you can kiss my Big A hole.

October 28, 2009  07:58 AM ET

I'm sure Serena's PR person drafted a very eloquent letter. Serena might have even signed it, herself.

October 28, 2009  08:05 AM ET

Several issues here: First, threatening to kill someone, or, at the very least, impart significant bodily harm, should never be trivialized as a "setback." Second, Williams' action was not simply cursing - it was a menacing, violently threatening, and, quite frankly, criminal act. Third, Williams defense two months later that "I am a passionate person" is hollow - passionate people are typically kind and gentle - not threatening. And last, let's all review the videotaped coverage again. Her press conference directly after the match - she flat-out denied having done anything wrong, and dismissed any questions relating to the "setback." It wasn't until she was heavily counseled by Team Williams, the WTA, the USTA, her publicist.... that many days later did a quasi-, force-fed apology-of-sorts emerge. This will all get swept under the proverbial rug. Williams can open for Kanye West, and America will scoop up every ticket and the two will make billions off of their notoriety.

October 28, 2009  08:29 AM ET

Then Serena proceeded to squeeze the judge's head between her massive thighs and crack her like a coconut, a la Xenia Onatopp.

October 28, 2009  11:58 AM ET

Quote #3: Several issues here: First, threatening to kill someone, or, at the very least, impart significant bodily harm, should never be trivialized as a "setback."
--In sports, threats like this happen all of the time. It's not like Serena was on the street somewhere and went up to a random person and threatened to kill her. She said she would freakin shove a ball down her throat. That is as much a death threat in a sports event as anyone chanting "kick their ass" or "annihilate them" at a football game or any other sports event. It simply is not a threat and would never stand in court.


--Second, Williams' action was not simply cursing - it was a menacing, violently threatening, and, quite frankly, criminal act.
--Hardly the case. It was not menacing and was in response to a faulty, wrong foot fault. It is also not a criminal act. It was a sports event. Give it up.

--Third, Williams defense two months later that "I am a passionate person" is hollow - passionate people are typically kind and gentle - not threatening.
--Serena did not use this as a defense. She said this in her apology and it was actually a couple of days after the incident, after she apologized a second or third or fourth time.

And last, let's all review the videotaped coverage again.
--- please do. TMZ has an uncensored version of it, where she does not even say the f word but instead says "freaking" both times. CBS censored it in their version.


This will all get swept under the proverbial rug.
--It should be along with each time the WTA and ITF allowed all of the other fraudulent calls occur to Serena over the years that she has graciously accepted and moved on. I can list those out if you want, since you seem to have no recollection of anything factual.

October 28, 2009  12:19 PM ET

Obviously Serena's apology was sincere - she wrote a "really long" letter.

And I bet what the line judge "understood" is that Serena won't be penalized further for her outburst.

October 28, 2009  01:03 PM ET

Hey Pat, take your Serena Williams memorabilia collection and go cry elsewhere. What are you going to tell us next...that Serena has been victimized because she is black?

October 28, 2009  01:29 PM ET

She probably only acted like that to the line judge because she was asian. I'm kidding, but if that were true..

Either way, I hate athletes that use the "i'm passionate" excuse. Yes, it's an excuse. It's like me threatening to blow up the DMV after making me renew my license for $75 bucks and when arrested, I said, "sorry, I was upset, I'm a passionate person.."

Doesn't work. Hell, you never know who can be capable of horrible things... remember OJ. We use to love that guy.

October 28, 2009  02:41 PM ET

out of character? She's threatened an OPPONENT on the court...how is this line judge incident out of character?

I also like how she prefaces her apologies...there's always an excuse.

October 28, 2009  03:15 PM ET
QUOTE(#5):

"[Williams' action] was not menacing and was in response to a faulty, wrong foot fault. It is also not a criminal act. It was a sports event. "

Players' out-of-control actions during sports events can lead to criminal charges. Some examples: Todd Bertuzzi (hockey); Ron Artest (basketball); Jose Offerman (baseball).

And perhaps you don't remember Serena waving her tennis racket a/k/a weapon in the lineswoman's face during her tirade? I'm quite sure even you would feel menaced if you were in the lineswoman's place.

October 28, 2009  05:17 PM ET

Serena came at the woman not once, but twice. That's a whole lot of passion. Of course the WTA is going to excuse this because if they didn't, Williams and her fans will shriek racism.

October 28, 2009  05:17 PM ET

Talk about being self-righteous; some of you people on here need to chill the **** out. I get the feeling most of you don't even care about or watch tennis, you just come here to **** any little mishap that happens in whatever is not your favorite sport. Serena was wrong and if the line judge accepted her apology and she was fined ,as in punished, then it is over with.

October 28, 2009  05:49 PM ET

Jimmer69 - when has Serena ever threatened an opponent???

Martel - the difference with the other athletes you mention are that they all physically injured someone. Serena did not even come close to injuring the linesperson. If you listen to what she said, I don't think it could even be taken seriously as a threat - she says "if I could, I would shove this ball..."

Anyone who follows tennis knows this incident was out of character for Serena. Say what you want about her off-court comments that she gets vilified for, but she has always shown class on the court and rarely ever argues line calls. The only 2 cases I can even recall her getting into a heated discussion about are 2 calls where she was in the right against Capriati and Henin.

October 28, 2009  06:19 PM ET

OMG: Here we go again...with the haters.

Serena, I am glad you wrote the letter. Now, can you send me some box tickets for next year? I will cheer you on. And remember, don't cross the line.

October 28, 2009  07:26 PM ET
QUOTE(#13):

Jimmer69 - when has Serena ever threatened an opponent???

She threatened Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez earlier in the year during a match. You can google it, there are articles and video.

The funniest part was when she was asked afterwards about what she said she said she'd deny it if it wasn't on video with audio

October 28, 2009  07:27 PM ET

Williams later accused Mart??nez of cheating.

???I looked at her dead in the eye, I said: ???Why? Just be honest if the ball hit you or not,??? ??? Williams said. ???I mean, hello, it totally hit her. She was just, like, she wouldn???t even look at me. She looked down, and I just have no respect for anybody who can???t play a professional game and just be really professional out here.???

Mart??nez said that she believed the ball in question had touched her racket.

???People said it was the body, but if it hit my body, I didn???t feel it,??? she said.

Williams contended otherwise. ???I???m going to get you in the locker room for that; you don???t know me,??? she said on court.

After an extended discussion with Joseph, she then said, ???She better not come to the net again.???

Williams was apparently unaware that on-court microphones had picked up that comment.

October 28, 2009  07:30 PM ET

that cut and paste from the article looks bad...here's a link for ONE article about it. There are more and, like I said, video, if googled.

http://cliftonchadwick.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/soderling-knocks-out-nadal -williams-threatens-maria-jose-martinez-sanchez-of-spain/

October 29, 2009  12:42 AM ET

She did the same thing that McEnroe did throughout his career but she sent a letter of apology! All the line judges that John yelled at are still waiting for their apology.

Comment #19 has been removed
 
October 29, 2009  06:36 AM ET
QUOTE(#18):

She did the same thing that McEnroe did throughout his career but she sent a letter of apology! All the line judges that John yelled at are still waiting for their apology.

Yes, and he was one of the most hated people in the world when he played. I had no respect for him when he played. Serena needs to change her attitude as well. It's rare for Americans to be booed at the US Open, but she managed to get them to do it.

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