Serena Williams' issue took place during the women's final event at the US Open. She was called for a foot fault and the penalty was to take a point away, luckily for her opponent Kim Clijsters it was on match point. When the call was made, Serena furiously walked towards the line judge (with raquet and ball in hand) and continued to threaten her. I can't say that I agree with her actions, but I think calling a foot fault in that situation is a little ridiculous. Not that I would make that call but if I was the line judge that did, I'd probably need a clean pair of underwear after the match. Serena is that intimidating, she's like the Brian Urlacher of women's tennis. Serena's not known for being aggressive towards calls or the type of player to cause an outburst the way she did at Flushing Meadows; this might be the reason for why she has seen so much backlash following the incident. Many people in the class agreed that if she was the type of player to do something like this, she wouldn't be in as much trouble as she is now. I thought Serena's outburst was a little excessive but her anger was warranted. She had the right to be mad but she took her anger out in the worst way possible. I could even understand it if she apologized following the match in the press conference, but that didn't happen. She didn't say she was sorry until the next day through her public relations firm and I thought it felt unsympathetic and forced. I'm sure this will all blow over soon but it would've been out of the news a lot faster if she came out right after and admitted she was wrong.
Roger Federer found himself in trouble during the men's final at the US Open against Juan Martin del Potro for arguing a call with the chair umpire. del Potro called for a review of a shot that Federer thought was over. Player's are usually only given a couple seconds to decide they want a shot reviewed; in this case, del Potro took five to 10 seconds to call it. Some believe that del Potro was given insight to make the call by his coach or another acquaintance. Federer then went to the umpire and let him know he was unhappy with the call. While making his point, Federer used profanity. His language wasn't directed at the umpire or used in a threatening way and wasn't yelled so I see this outburst as not as serious as Serena's. With that being said, both tennis players are being used as examples so this trend doesn't continue. In my opinion, Roger should be fined for breaking his racquet (as should Serena) but I don't think he should be fined for arguing the call. He had a valid point and wasn't threatening toward the umpire. He did use profanity but he was frustrated, that happens. Any athlete can think of a situation where they have been frustrated and used some words that they wouldn't use in front of their grandmother. If his words were directed at the umpire it would be different; he was sitting down, looking the other direction and speaking to the umpire about the call.
Those were the events that have caused some debate over the week and have occupied a majority of our class discussions in Sport and Gender.
Take care!
I think that Serena would have not of had so much criticism if she actually apologized right after she had her outburst. However, who would want an insincere apology? I do not think that if she wasnt ready to apologize then she shouldn't have done so, epically on a debate that she had no objection with her attitude. She did apologize the next day in a press conference, yet, Im not so sure if that was the right move if she was not ready. She stated that she doesnt even remember what she said. I love you Serena but your words are in script all over the media. I think if you were going to make a heart felt apology, then you should have known exactly what you were apologizing for.
ReplyDeleteThe "Brian Urlacher of women's tennis!" Now there is an image that I will remember. You brought up a very important point when you said that "Serena's not known for being aggressive towards calls or the type of player to cause an outburst the way she did at Flushing Meadows." Because of this, I would have guessed that people would cut her more slack. I am not so sure it would have blown over if she had apologized sooner, because once it hit You Tube, people really wanted to see what happened. The number of views of those clips was overwhelming. I am glad you included observations of Federer's situation as well.
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