Serena Williams is a badass. After dropping the first set to an unseeded Kim Clijsters, Serena slammed her racket into the court, mangling it entirely. Of course, the frustrated action wasn’t unprovoked, as she was playing far below her usual level. In the second set, Serena started to regain her form, until a terrible lineswoman decided to ruin the excitement.
With Williams serving at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set, she faulted on her first serve. On the second serve, a line judge called a foot fault, making it a double-fault. That made the score 15-40, putting Clijsters one point from victory.
Williams went over and shouted at the line judge, who walked over and reported it to the chair umpire. That led to the chair umpire awarding a penalty point to Clijsters, ending the match.
Though it is unclear what exactly Williams said to the linesperson, she was heard on the CBS broadcast telling the linesperson, “I didn’t say I would kill you. Are you serious?” during the discussion with tournament officials that followed.
Williams already had been given a code violation warning when she broke her racket after losing the first set.
What a lame way to end this exciting semifinal. At least Serena was entertaining, ripping into this dolt without restraint. Watching the countless replays on CBS, you can clearly see Serena mouth the words, “I’m going shove this ball down your f–ing throat.” Yowza. That’s my girl.
Needless to say, Kim Clijsters was outplaying Serena before all the mayhem ensued. Clijsters, a former Grand Slam champion, had taken 2 years off to nurse injuries and grieve over the death of her father. Later, she got married and even had a baby. Although her life had changed drastically, Clijsters couldn’t stay away from the game any longer. The U.S. Open is her first Grand Slam since returning and, guess what, she’s in the finals. Good for her.
She’ll face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark on Sunday for the championship.
