Tennis Embarrasses Itself Monday
The minute Serena Williams steps on the court Monday to play in the doubles final at the U.S. Open, the entire sport of tennis should be ashamed of itself.
Serena’s embarrassing outburst in the women’s final was bad enough for everyone involved, but now the decision not to immediately suspend her widens the humiliation to an entire sport. And slapping a $10,000 fine on her is literally like docking about three bucks out of most people’s paycheck.
Let’s be honest, mainstream America really gets into tennis just a few times a year, such as the U.S. Open, French Open and Wimbledon (sorry Aussie Open fans, it never has the same buzz).
So when one of its biggest stars loses her mind in one of the sport’s biggest stages and completely ruins what should have been a wonderful moment for champion Kim Clijsters and the entire sport - swift punishment absolutely had to happen.
Those who back tennis bill it as a sport of the people because of its massive participation rate and that all the members of the family can play together, no matter their age. So when one of its big names threatens a line judge the way Serena did, the sport absolutely has to jump in immediately and send the message around the world that such behavior is simply not to be tolerated.
While John McEnroe in CBS Sports’ booth serves as the ultimate irony when addressing such a topic (”Don’t look at me” he said on TV), Mary Carillo did a great job by calling for an immediate suspension and saying Serena should not be allowed to play in Monday’s doubles final.
Golf has its own issues with Tiger Woods and his constant outbursts and how that plays on TV, but he has never threatened anyone while holding up his driver. And bad sportsmanship runs rampant across all sports.
But this is different. Sports shows over the weekend should have been carrying highlights of a magnificent comeback by Clijsters, who is basically just returning from an extended maternity leave and had a wonderful and improbable run.
Instead, everyone saw pictures of a player embarrassing herself.
And today when the doubles final starts, they will see pictures of an entire professional sport doing the same.
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Image commented:
I actually don't even watch the Women's game very much anymore because of the William's sisters. I really don't see the big deal with them.
When I was young and learning how to play tennis I was taught that it was a gentelemen's game and if I ever broke my racquet I would have been given hell for it. Tennis is a game of standards and players should not be able to get away with that kind of behavior. It teaches our younger players that bad behavior can be accepted.
I really feel that this U.S Open was a disgrace to American tennis and to our country itself. We should have more pride then to tolerate that kind of disgusting behavior.
mdspatsy commented:
Dear friend,
What you said is true.
I am a tennis lover.
Her behavior in this famous tournament was not fair.No tennis lovers will accept it as a emotional outburst.
Why she behaved like that.
might be like this-thinking on her superior to all other great players.
Always owners pride,neighbors enemy will not work out.
ct commented:
tennis can't afford to even think about suspending serena. tennis is basically dead without stars, and stars like the williams are worth more than the sport and the USTA knows its place. you can be sure they whiteboarded all the scenarios afterward and knew the score.
however it did give the world a chance to see serena's true colors, both during and after. it also gives the world a chance to see how we don't hold certain people accountable for their actions when big $$$ are involved.
doing right and making money don't always match up.
T-Mad commented:
I agree that Serena blew her stack and should be penalized for the outburst with the point and fine. However, I *disagree* with the notion that she should be suspended from the doubles final and that her playing the doubles today besmirches women's tennis.
Nobody got that much in an uproar during John McEnroe's day. Plus, as *quiet* as it's being kept, the linewoman's call WAS A BAD CALL, as ALL of the camera replay shots clearly showed and as the commentators themselves acknowledged when looking at the camera replay. But nobody is saying anything about that!
Everything has boiled down to a MINUTE in her entire DAMN career that she loses it like that! Nobody is saying anything about ALL that both Serena and Venus have done for women's tennis. Revitalizing the game since the days of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova (sorry if I misspelled the name) and Billie Jean King. Winning the damn Olympics for our country, for crying out loud! No, all that gets forgotten in the wake of one blasted moment of being human and losing her temper.
Does anyone *REALLY* think she was going to actually go upside the linewoman's head with the racket and stuff the ball down her throat?? I mean, REALLY???
The game was tense, the constant weather-related delays and the lateness of the hour probably worked her nerves, she was angry at herself for not being at her best in the first set after literally steamrolling all the competition up to that point in the US Open, and now a less than completely competent linewoman makes an asinine bad foot fault call (which every single camera replay shot clearly shows was bad). Serena lost it - plain and simple.
Hell, the reason for the replay line cameras in tennis now in the first place is because Serena was the victim of an almost comical slew of BAD CALLS made against her by an umpire in the 2004 US Open match against Jennifer Capriati, which contributed to her losing that match.
I think the lady had a legitimate reason for being just a tad upset at getting a bad call during a critical point in an important match. Did she go overboard with her reaction? Yes. Should he suffer some sort of consequence for it? Yes. Should she be symbolically castrated and raked across the coals for ever and ever? NO!
Give the woman a damn break already! She lost the game. She didn't get to properly contest the legitimately bad call that began the chain of events that contributed to the controversial loss. She got fined. She's been made to backtrack and apologize, reversing her earlier defiance. Let the woman be already, damn!
justjohn commented:
Ben, you are spot on. And--Mary Carillo, you are
the only one with guts! I could kiss you...
Rick commented:
I agree completely. Serena shouldn't be allowed to play today. They are looking in to imposing a larger fine and she will probably lose endorsements, but I wish the USTA would take a tougher stance.