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In the US Open Serena Williams managed to reach the semi-final against unseeded wild card Kim Clijsters, who was making a comeback after a two-year hiatus from tennis to start a family.
As the match progressed and Clijsters prevailed, Williams became clearly frustrated, slamming her racket on the court twice, for which she received a code of conduct warning for racket abuse.
The match ended in an unusual fashion, when Williams’ second serve at 15-30 was called a foot fault, which resulted in 15-40 double match point.
Williams is reported as saying to the woman,“I swear to God I’m fucking going to take this fucking ball and shove it down your fucking throat, you hear that? I swear to God.”
As a result of the point violation, which was confirmed by the tournament referee and was necessitated by the earlier warning Williams had received, Clijsters was awarded the match 6-4, 7-5.
The next day, the US Open Tournament Referee released a statement stating that Williams would receive the maximum permissible on-site fine of $10,000 plus $500 for racquet abuse, pending possible additional penalties, but she was not suspended from participating in the tournament’s doubles competition – where she and her sister had aleady reached the final – as some commentators had called for.
Williams later released a statement through a public relations firm admitting that “in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me” and that she handled the situation poorly, but the statement did not include an apology.
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