For nearly two weeks, Serena Williams had made a flawless run through the U.S. Open, pulverizing opponents and dominating matches, a seeming lock to defend her title and capture her 12th career Grand Slam.
It all unraveled in unimaginable fashion a few minutes before 11 p.m. Saturday night, with a foot fault, a profane tirade and a code violation that happened to come on match point, after an irate Williams told a lineswoman, "I swear to God, I'll f --- take this ball and shove it down your f -- - throat. "
Faster than you can spell colossal anticlimax, the rackets were down, the match was over, the crowd was incensed and a teary-eyed Williams was leaving the court to a cascade of boos.
On a cool, dank night, before a crowd of maybe 8,000 fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, Kim Clijsters decisively outplayed the second-seeded Williams in their Open semifinal. She moved into tonight's final against No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, with a 6-4, 7-5 victory, even though she looked as if she didn't want to leave the court Saturday night, and have the match finish the way it did.
"The normal feelings of winning a match weren't there," Clijsters said.
"It was just a point penalty, just at a bad time, basically," said Williams, who was consoled in the locker room by sister Venus afterward.
The match was delayed a day by rain, and will be discussed and debated far longer than that, considering the way it concluded: with Serena in the face of the lineswoman who called the foot fault - a horrid call at a horrible time - before getting called for a second code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. The first violation - a warning - had come after she lost the first set, when Serena slammed her racket against the blue court and whacked it into the net.
"She could've kept her cool," said Oracene Price, Serena's mother.
The whole flow of the match was no less stunning than the ending. Clijsters, the 26-year-old, comebacking mother freshly returned from two years of retirement, performed brilliantly against Williams, a player she had beaten only once in eight prior meetings. Clijsters broke Williams' vaunted serve four times and spent the better part of two sets moving her around and dominating the rallies with penetrating, angled groundstrokes.
Clijsters held serve at love to go up 6-5 in the second, and as Williams served in the 12th game to try to force a tiebreaker, Williams hit a backhand into the net to go down 15-30. On her ensuing second serve, she was called for the foot fault to make it 15-40 - double match point.
An infuriated Williams walked over to the lineswoman - the USTA would not release her name - angrily shook her racket at her and let fly with profane comments. The lineswoman walked over to the chair umpire, Louise Engzell, to report what had been said. Brian Earley, the tournament referee, came on the court to discuss the matter. Williams approached the net and denied that she had threatened the lineswoman.
With the second code violation, Earley informed Williams that she would be assessed a point penalty. A match-point penalty. She got no slack for a call that replays showed was clearly wrong.
In the interview room, Williams declined to disclose what she said to the lineswoman.
"I don't think that's necessary. I'm trying to move on," Williams said. "I'm clearly not happy. Obviously I wanted to fight. I always fight when I'm down."
Clijsters, the first unseeded finalist since Venus Williams 12 years ago, has never played Wozniacki, who defeated Janina Wickmayer of Belgium in the simultaneously played semifinal held in Louis Armstrong Stadium. There was no time to think about the final Saturday night, after the abrupt ending to a superb match, and Serena Williams' unthinkable exit.
"It's just unfortunate that a battle like that has to end like that," Clijsters said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2009/09/12/2009-09-12_serena_williams_loses_cool_in_mad_ending_.html#ixzz0QzuZd5QC
Original article can be found at http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2009/09/12/2009-09-12_serena_williams_loses_cool_in_mad_ending_.html
No comments:
Post a Comment