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Video: Serena Williams Flips Out and Gets Bounced from Open

The US Open once again proved itself as one of the most theatrical stages in sports last night during the women's semifinals where Serena Williams saw her chances for repeating as champion ended after losing her cool and going off on a line judge. After Serena became upset at the judge's unexpected call for a foot fault, she pointed at the official and yelled, "I swear to God, I'm f*ckin' takin' this ball and shovin' it in(?) your f*ckin' throat… I swear to God." As if the outburst wasn't sensational enough, Williams then got docked for a penalty point (she had already received a warning after smashing her racket at the end of the first set) which couldn't have come at a worse time—match point. That meant that the confrontation would be the final point of the tournament for Williams, sent packing by Belgian Kim Clijsters. Here's the extended play of the whole string of events, that we imagine left Eli Manning doing a nervous gulp of his Oreo Double Stuff.

The Times calls Serena's flare-up "a shocking display of vitriol and profanity" and Mike Lupica's Sunday column really rails America's most dominant player in the sport these days, calling it "a shameful performance" and saying she "got exactly what she deserved." Williams did not win back any points for grace after the match, giving an unapologetic, nonchalant press conference saying she doesn't live her life with regrets. She also told reporters that "my idol was John McEnroe" and continues her on-court sentiment that "people have done way worse." She even defends herself that she had just been watching heated moments from Opens past in all the old matched\s being dug up by the networks and shown during the last two days of rain delays. (The media's glorification of violence strikes again!) The press conference, called by Lupica "a ridiculous, disingenuous performance" is after the jump.

Clijsters, who previously took out Seren'a sister Venus, will face Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in today's finals. Clijsters is the first unseeded woman to reach the finals since Venus did it in 1997, this run being made all the more remarkable by it being the Belgian's first major tournament since leaving the game to have a child.

Williams did seem to react strongly both during the argument and in the press conference to thinking that she heard the line judge accusing her of saying Serena "was going to kill her." Tomorrow marks the sixth anniversary of Venus and Serena's oldest sister being fatally shot in Los Angeles.

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Comments [rss]

  • valeriob

    Al Sharpton still in hiding?

  • AJ

    Serena Williams can suck it. She is the most immature player (and has been for some time) next to her sister in the professional tennis world.

  • MaiaW

    This, Serena, is why people don't like you. It's perfectly fair to get mad at a line judge, and maybe she blew the call. Eh, it happens, and you as a veteran should know this. But show some class. What you said, and in particular, the menacing way in which you said it, has no place in any professional sport. Even if this were boxing, arguably the most violent pro sport, you'd be gone in a second if you started talking to the ref that way. I feel bad for the line judge...she was just doing the best she could. Sheesh. To whomever on here said to "lighten up," a telecast like this may be entertainment to you, but pro tennis players are also role models for young kids. And I'm sorry, but I'd never want my kid to emulate Serena after this outburst. How charming that she recalls McEnroe in her defense...maybe that's why he was so quiet during the unfolding of this fiasco during the telecast. But Serena didn't even apologize to the poor lineslady after the dust began to settle. She still thinks her behavior was just fine! I'll side with Mary Carillo on this one.

  • ludwg

    It doesn't really what sport it is like nba, mlb, etc. There will always be a bad call somewhat somewhere and if the player erupts with an attitude I'm sure that the player will be ejected anyhow.

  • wow 14th street

    She was really getting the booo's as she left the court

    I guess becoming famous in an old boy country club

    game ,has it's up's and downs.

    She was playing poorly against a player she really does like who also beat her sister at the same competition.



    We have to remember that these newer rules of proper decorum and penalties came after John McEnroe's BS.



    What is worse was her press conference where she was in

    denial and lied or "forgot" what she had said to the

    line judge. Awwwwwwww! Whatever.

    As the saying goes "Anger is a bad counselor".









  • Snoopy

    Ease up people. Tennis is a sport. Sports are entertainment. Sure a lot of individuals make mucho money entertaining the masses while really accomplishing nothing but entertaining the masses for the moment.



    They get swept up in a world where they really think they are important, they aren't. Same goes for the music industry. Thirty years down the road no one will give a shit about any of them except a few older fans.



    So it really doesn't matter if your white, black, Hispanic or "Oriental," live with the moment and save your money rather than buying a new Escalade every year. Also forget about moving to Greenwich CT. The neighbors will never accept you.

  • freddynyc

    Since when did it matter whether the neighbors would "accept" you in this day and age, unless you mean whether you wake up to a cross burning in your yard...

  • SailAway

    It's really sad when people feel the need to interject racial overtones all the time. It's NOT about race in this instance anyway. It's about tennis!!! It's about how an athlete conducts his/herself on court.

    The excuse that was given by Serena about the antics of McEnroe's past in order to justify her actions doesn't make it okay for her or anyone else to do the same.I don't care whether John Mc Enroe, or anyone else, (whether they are black, white, pink or yellow )for that matter, screamed obsenities at the officials or threw rackets in a fit of rage, It absolutely doesn't make it okay for him or anyone to do it!! It is just plain poor sportsmanship and a lack of respect for the people involved!

  • NannyState

    Girlfriend forgot to bring her boxcutter.

  • valeriob

    Keepin' tennis classy, one beastly woman (questionable) at a time.



    Serena, NFL is looking for linesmen.

  • MLHencken

    The call looked iffy to me. Nonetheless Serena exhibited poor sportsmanship and deserved the penalty. The unwillingness to acknowledge that will not help her image.

  • freddynyc

    I'm just thinking, all the African-American women here in the city must be dreading having to see this on the front pages of our tabloids - and on a Monday morning at that...

  • pipsy

    Even odds, not a chance in hell they care.

  • pipsy

    Not a chance in hell a single one of them cares.

  • theevilone

    I didn't think the press conference was that bad. She basically said that Clijsters played really well, came out there with a plan and hopes she gets to play her again. The part where she says people have done way worse is in response to a question where a reporter says that he's seen way worse!

  • airtech1

    Ah, so the real Ms. Williams stands up (to a petite Asian lady at that), even making Johnny Mac blush.



    Well, they did play "Straight Outta Compton" as she entered Ashe for her 2nd Round match. Next up, "Black Korea."

  • freddynyc

    Ha, you can take the girl out of the ghetto, but you can't....

  • El Bolson

    Ain't that the truth! I was thinking the exact same thing...



    Tennis is a sport of class, regardless of a call being out of place or not. This "lady", Serena Williams is only exposing herself as what she truly is, where she came from, and what she will always be.



    Keep the sport dignified, and don't try to justify poor taste by exemplifying trashy displays of individuals of the past...set a proper example - kids are looking up to you :)

  • Kaonashi

    Yes, because Jon McEnroe definitely kept things classy in tennis! GTFO

  • macondo

    Agreed.

  • macondo

    Agreed to El Bolson, that is.

  • HymietownHero

    You racist ass, why don't you tell us what you think Ms. Williams truly is, and what she will always be?



    A sport is a sport, regardless of your perceptions of associate "class", and competitive athletes get pissed off when they are called on technicalities. You seem to believe that this player's little outburst, unlike the many similar outbursts of top players before her, somehow represents some "savage" nature breaking through the humane veneer. Hm, what would set her apart from other players in your mind?

  • marcasm

    A person who uses the name "hymietown" calling someone else a racist ? Really ?

  • HymietownHero

    It's ironic usage of a controversial Jesse Jackson remark. Plus I'm Jewish, and we can get away with these things.

  • Mr Mel

    "Plus I'm Jewish, and we can get away with these things."



    No you can't, you jerk.

  • HymietownHero

    And yet I have clearly gotten away with it.

  • Radtard

    Oh yes we need more moments like this!

  • Bernie Madoff-Goetz

    The line judge should have relaxed. You don't call something as petty as a really close foot fault at such a decisive moment of a major match like this. If anything, tennis needs to get with the times and introduce some kind of replay review for situations such as this. Maybe if Serena had another avenue of recourse, she wouldn't have gone aggro. Who knows?



    That said, I'm not defending Serena. Sadly, many people seem to think she was ejected for her outburst which wasn't the case. Comparisons are already being made to McEnroe and all his "moments" and people are already wondering why a white man gets away with it but a black woman doesn't. She wasn't disqualified, though. It was simply match point.



    Finally, what a shitty thing to have such a loose end attached to Kim Clijsters impressive comeback.

  • jaycjay

    "You don't call something as petty as a really close foot fault at such a decisive moment of a major match like this."



    Then the rules should be changed to say that. Foot fault definition is different in major matches, I guess is what some people are saying.



    But you can't leave it up to individual officials to decide what that means. Put it in the rules. The NHL should do that, too, since it seems to be the practice there as well.

  • junkrabbit

    "The line judge should have relaxed. You don't call something as petty as a really close foot fault at such a decisive moment of a major match like this." It sucks when the rules are enforced ain't it? The replays showed that her foot twisted onto the line, so she did touch the line.

  • JacqueMehoff

    good for ms. Williams. stand up for your rights.

  • ides_of_march

    What right would that be? The right to win even when you've been thoroughly outplayed and beaten?

  • Bernie Madoff-Goetz

    Jackoff defends everything/anything an African American does. It's automatic. Don't bother.

  • ides_of_march

    If a baseball player threatened an umpire, he'd be out of the game in a heartbeat regardless of what the argument was about. Serena was clearly getting thrashed fair and square and took it out on the lines woman.



    No class.

  • JacqueMehoff

    except for squirrels which bernie geotz loves, he plays with them in union square park, a block from his 14th street home, that's if he still lives in NYC.

    unless this bernie madoff goetz is the real bernie goetz before he added in the "madoff".

  • JacqueMehoff

    the right to an even playing field, the right to the benefit of the doubt. and, just for you, sir.

    USA! USA! the best Tennis players in the world!

  • Kevin Walsh

    Saying you're going to shove a tennis ball down someone's throat is a threat, but that's just me. I'm glad the line judge stood up for herself.



    www.forgotten-ny.com

  • Splicer

    Yes, how shocking it is for all the rich fuckers watching to be so put upon by the (gasp) emotions of the rabble. Stiff upper lip and all that bullshit. I'm sure the crowd of greed-heads were able to sooth their sensibilities by going home and evicting a family from one of their many buildings.

  • macondo

    That was the dumbest comment I've ever read on here. Congratulations!

  • Splicer

    Keep watching my comments for more of the same and thanks for reading.

  • FrankMartin

    more of what? that was special don't destroy it with a sequel

  • Mr Mel

    You understood it?

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