In 2009, Serena Williams made headlines with an outburst directed at a lines woman. Williams was competing against Kim Clijsters in the semifinals of the U.S. Open when a foot fault was called against. The events that followed are well documented, as are those of Sunday night's incident. This time against Sam Stosur in the U.S. Open final she directed her anger at the chair umpire.
I'm not going into detail about what happened since it's been a topic of much discussion for the last several days, nor am I defending Williams' tirade, which did get rather personal. The thing is that I've talked to a few people and seen various posts on the Internet saying that Williams should be banned or that she should never be allowed to play again. They claim that she is a disgrace and they are right and that's precisely why I'm about to defend her.
Firstly, we all say things in the heat of the moment that we probably shouldn't have said and the same can be said of Williams in this instance, as well as others. Furthermore, I believe the game would be worse off without people losing their cool and going mad at an umpire.
Of course we all watch for the tennis, but tennis, and sports in general, is nothing more than live non-scripted theater. We watch for the emotional ebbs-and-flows and the drama. As a result, when we see someone acting in a way that they shouldn't, our interest piques. It adds a little spice to the proceedings and sports would be a little less enthralling without the "bad men/women."
Williams is "bad" and that's her appeal. Like the gun-wielding cowboy who fights for good, yet shows of evil, she divides the audience. Some will watch to see Williams play great tennis because they admire her ability and want to see her progress, whilst others will watch to see her get her comeuppance and lose. There is no middle ground. You either love her or hate her and people like that are always needed in sport.
That's not to say that she shouldn't have been more severely punished. Given that she was on "probation" from the 2009 incident, a $2,000 fine does seem somewhat pathetic. In the meantime, however, let's just sit back and enjoy the show because when she's on the court, it's about as enthralling as it can get.
Meanwhile, hats off to Novak Djokovic for winning his third major title of the year. With only two losses, he's quite possibly having the best year anyone has ever had and it's certainly the best year I've ever witnessed.
Both Djokovic and Rafael Nadal deserve credit for putting on a great show in the final, particularly the third set. After Djokovic had taken the first two sets, he looked to be coasting towards the title with an early break in the third. At that point, Nadal's fightback began and throughout the third set the tennis was just about as good as it gets. Both men were hitting the ball hard and clean and neither man would yield. In some ways, it would've been more fitting if Djokovic had won the tiebreak and that had been the final set. As it is, the final set was an anti-climax.
The third set, however, was one of the best sets of tennis I've ever seen and definitely the best this year, though the first set between Roger Federer and Djokovic at Roland Garros is a very close second.
It will be interesting to see what happens as we go forward given the dynamic that seems to exist. Djokovic clearly has the beating of Nadal, but Federer looks capable of beating Djokovic, whilst Nadal has the beating of Federer.
September 15, 2011
Myra Mooney:
When did bad manners become SO acceptable.?
In the heat of the moment, ANY MOMENT, it is ALWAYS unacceptable to verbally abuse anyone.
These supposed geniuses are just people who excel at their chosen sport. SO WHAT ! That’s their job.
Just imagine a professional pianist, violinist etc. throwing a tantrum during a performance.
Isn’t it time we stopped being afraid of these bullies and enforce the rules rigidly.
ps. Sharapove must stop screeching.
William sisters must stop the gamesmanship.
Bartoli’s father must stop coaching from the stands.
Tipzaravic must be questioned every time he feigns inqury.
Tennis authorities, please do your job.
September 15, 2011
Angus:
I have to agree with Myra on this one. Sure, it lends a little drama to the game, but if I wanted to see drama, I’d go to the theatre, or the cinema, or flick through the TV channels.
Serena was completely out of order, not so much this year as in ‘09, but still, players should not be able to get away with this kind of behaviour, whether they are a big name or not. They should be made an example of, and considering Serena was on a 2 year probation, she should have been fined more heavily, and dare I say it, given a grand-slam ban for a year? The tennis authorities can’t make threats and then not carry them through.
Also, the grunting. Let’s face it, Sharapova isn’t the worst, and she’s not the only one. The Williams sisters themselves are pretty bad when it comes to this. Francesca Schiavone is appalling, as is Azarenka, and many many more. The problem isn’t quite so prevelant in the men’s game and when they do grunt, it is usually out of exertion - whereas in the women’s game, they are TAUGHT to implement this into their game in order to disguise the sound of the ball off the racquet.
Injuries. Well, who can tell when a player is injured or not? Novak Djokovic was a joke in the tennis world for many years for frequent retirements and injury time outs, only to use them to put off an opponent and then come back to win the game. And yes, coaching from the stands is again unacceptable.
As for the final. I immensely enjoyed it, in spite of Nadal not eventually pulling through, and it really was a spectacle. I only hope Andy Murray can learn from Djokovic’s performance.
Angus Saul
September 15, 2011
Mert Ertunga:
$2000 fine is indeed a joke. And Serena’s behavior was unacceptable. Nevertheless, I see some people talking about what great personalities McEnroe and Connors were in the so-called Golden Age of tennis, and how much they contributed to the sport, and then the same people turn around and criticize Serena (not talking about Luke here, let’s not misunderstand, LOL)..
McEnroe and Connors were twice worse than Serena on both language, threats to the umpire and general behavior. And Serena brings popularity to the sport.
Conclusion: maybe a personality like Serena or Johnny Mac are a must on the circuit? Weird hypothesis, but could be true..
Mert
September 15, 2011
Luke Broadbent:
Thanks for the comments guys.
It seems Mert has made a similar point to me and has brought up a very good example. Pretty much all sports have at least one guy who divides everyone. For those that follow soccer, someone like Jose Mourinho would fall into that category and whilst you may not like the way he acts you can’t help but pay attention to him.
Obviously rule breakers, including Serena, should be punished and I said so in the article. As for things like coaching, grunting or injury time-outs, the authorities should indeed crack down on them but whilst you can get away with such things then I don’t blame the players for utilising such tactics.
And Angus, I see where you’re coming from with regards to the whole drama thing but, for me, sport is about emotions. Be they good or bad, I want to see emotion which is essentially drama and given that sport is unscripted I don’t think there’s a better way of getting your drama fix.