Serena - A harsher punishment would be appropriate

Serena:

•"If you ever see me walking down the hall look the other way. You're out of control, you're a hater and you're unattractive inside."
•"Who would do such a thing? And I never complain. Wow. What a loser."
•"You get a code violation because I express my end, we're in America the last time I checked."
•"Can I have a water? Or am I going to get violated for drinking a water? Really don't even look at me."

This was probably only the tip of the iceberg of the horrendous rant that Serena threw in direction of the umpire yesterday. I mean the arrogance and ignorance of all the above is already enough to leave someone speechless. This is not just intimidating behaviour, this is verbal abuse pure and simple, towards someone who is clearly not in the position of assert herself, let alone the rules of the games and the code of conduct. What could have happened, had the penalty point been given to Serena, following the first warning, we can only guess. Probably, it would have caused an even more awkward situation for Sam Stosur and an unmanageable situation as a whole for the tournament organisation.

Now that the whole story has cooled off and, it seems, will be reviewed by the officials, I hope Serena won't get away with it, again. It would be bad for tennis.

You get a code violation because I express my end, we're in America the last time I checked.

'We're in America' so you're only allowed to behave like a d*ck in the US then?? Jeremy i'm pretty sure Serena won't face a ban from the tournament as they are too scared of the ratings being affected; she will just face the customary fine and be told to apologise to Asderaki.. sad but that's capitalism!

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

You get a code violation because I express my end, we're in America the last time I checked.

'We're in America' so you're only allowed to behave like a d*ck in the US then?? Jeremy i'm pretty sure Serena won't face a ban from the tournament as they are too scared of the ratings being affected; she will just face the customary fine and be told to apologise to Asderaki.. sad but that's capitalism!

She might have been a point here, anywhere else her misbehaviour would have found less indulgence.....

I reckon Serena will receive further punishment, which will be announced today.

That's exactly the point Leff. Some people just cannot accept the possibility of defeat and are prepared to do almost anything in order to win. It's clear that the whole thing was intentionally done by serena to disrupt the momentum of her opponent and she nearly reached the goal. it's a real shame that such a champion like Serena had to act like that.......

well at least she didn't make any threats this time. That's surely an improvement.

I am not sure if Serena's "come on" scream was intentionally done to disrupt the opponent. Regardless, it appeared so to the umpire and most sitting the stands.

Later, it was a calculated ploy by Serena when she said, "we are in America, the last time I checked," as this comment was made to alienate the Greek lady sitting in the high chair, and gain sympathy from the American audience on Sep 11.

Fair enough then. I don't know what's worse the threats from a couple of years ago or the more subtle manipulation. Meh at least by some accounts she was gracious enough during the ceremony.

She didn't mean anything manipulative by the "Come ON!" and the comments were just a rant. Neither do I believe she attaempted to garner the crowd by the "America" comment, I think she was just saying we're on her turf.

Credit to the US crowd who didn't really swing for the long term, nor abuse San (apart from 1/2 idiots you get anywhere). It certainly wasn't like France that's for sure.

Serena is just a nasty piece of work when she is crossed, simple as that. Nothing like her sister who has always been, in my opinion, hugely competitive but very fair and always decently spoken.

"You're out of control, you're a hater"

Right there is a blatant accusation of racism i feel. She has tried on numerous occasions in the past tp play the race card which is disgusting.

An outstanding player, no-one can deny that, but her behavour is unacceptable. I hope that she recieves a hefty ban this time, if only to teach her some respect.

Not necessarily an accusation of racism maybe just accusing her of not being one of her fans or something to that effect.

bogbrush wrote:She didn't mean anything manipulative by the "Come ON!" and the comments were just a rant. Neither do I believe she attaempted to garner the crowd by the "America" comment, I think she was just saying we're on her turf.

Credit to the US crowd who didn't really swing for the long term, nor abuse San (apart from 1/2 idiots you get anywhere). It certainly wasn't like France that's for sure.

Serena is just a nasty piece of work when she is crossed, simple as that. Nothing like her sister who has always been, in my opinion, hugely competitive but very fair and always decently spoken.

Disagree. Why would someone shout "come on" before the ball even touch the ground? That would be madness. What upsets me, is that I could perfectly see her winning as a consequence of the mess she put the whole final into. well, she didn't, kudos to Sam Stosur to keep her nerves calm.

There are many others players who instead have succeded in adopting this kind of gamesmanship behaviours.

break_in_the_fifth wrote:Not necessarily an accusation of racism maybe just accusing her of not being one of her fans or something to that effect.

I base that on the fact that she has pulled the race card once too many.

I was at Ashe with my wife and 6-year-old daughter, who had a great time watching herself dancing on the giant screen.

The majority of the spectators were very well behaved and fair in their support. At first, we supported Serena, but we cheered when Sam Stosur released a barrage of splendid shots, and we also liked the way she regained her composure after that ugly incident.

We have been commuting to Flushing for ten days now (since the beginning of labor day weekend). There was some partisan support for Fish and Isner (much less compared to what Henman received at Wimby), but mostly, a very appreciative crowd.

On the topic of the Serena incident, I believe she brought in the race and America cards, whether intentionally or because it has become a habit.