Tennis-X Notes: Federer Done? Serena Williams Redux
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
PASS ON A PUBLIC APOLOGY — Patrick McEnroe in an on-court interview after the Williams sisters won the US Open doubles title on Monday asked Serena Williams about the second media statement she put out, but Serena skirted the issue. No public apology necessary, just let your PR handlers print it? This whole affair couldn’t have been handled worse…
ADHEREL
BackOffice Associates, “a leading provider of data migration and data governance solutions for global SAP customers,” has signed an endorsement deal with Melanie Oudin. Not exactly Gatorade, but a start…
From the AP on Serena Williams at the Mtv Video Music Awards: “Backstage, the atmosphere was just as chaotic. Serena Williams, whose outburst with a line judge at the U.S. Open on Saturday provoked a Kanye-sized reaction of its own, mingled with the celebrities. Her request for gum was met quickly by stagehands — perhaps even quicker considering her profanity-laced, finger-pointing tirade at a linesperson for penalizing her for a foot fault that helped her lose the match.”…
“Are you scared? Because I said I would hit you? I’m sorry, but there’s a lot of people who’ve said way worse.” — Serena Williams to the US Open linesperson before being defaulted.
Melanie Oudin pulled from this week’s WTA Tour Bell Challenge tournament in Quebec City, citing an injury to her left thigh — or media duties. The 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was scheduled to make TV appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “Ellen” this week. “She told us her left thigh is bothering her,” Bell Challenge Tournament Director Jacques Herisset told the Toronto Globe and Mail. “If I put on my coach’s hat, I can understand that at 17 you don’t want to take chances. But she could have started next Wednesday and people here are very disappointed.”…
Three-time Grand Slam title winner Jack Kramer died at his Los Angeles home on Saturday at 88 years of age. Kramer was the world No. 1 in the late 1940s, winning Wimbledon in 1947 and the US National Championships in 1946-47. He won seven Grand Slam doubles titles, and helped found the ATP player’s union in 1972. He also organized the ATP Los Angeles event…
There are double the players 6-foot-4 and taller in the 2009 US Open draw than 20 years ago…
“You don’t f*****g know me!” — Serena Williams screaming at a linesperson after being called for a foot fault at the 2009 US Open.
Serena Williams in her post-match loss conference at the US Open if she had regrets over losing her temper: “I haven’t really thought about it to have any regrets. I try to — I’ve done — you know, I try not to live my life saying, ‘I wish, I wish.’ But, you know, I was out there and I fought and I tried and I did my best.”
Kim Clijsters rose to No. 19 on the WTA Rankings after winning the US Open and playing just three events in 2009…
SERENA = GOOD — From Jasmyne Cannick writing for blacktennispros.com on the apologist tip: “What happened Saturday during the women’s semifinal at the United States Open between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters is just another example of how Black women are still seen as threatening and hostile…Under an extreme amount of pressure, maybe it got to her. It can happen to the best of us. After all, a person can only take so much and it’s not as if the field of tennis rolled out the red carpet for her and sister Venus…What ensued Saturday was nothing more than a few angry curse words that turned into Serena having to defend herself against unmade threats towards the lineswoman who was obviously suffering from a typical case of a white-woman-afraid-of-the-Black-girl syndrome. How else do you explain the lineswoman accusations of Serena threatening to kill her?…Most Black women can relate to what happened to Serena. We get mad like everyone else. The only difference is that for some reason when white women get angry, they’re not seen as threatening as we are. Maybe it’s the expression on our face. Maybe it’s the seriousness with which we address issues when we are upset. Maybe it’s the tone of our voice. You know that “don’t fuck with me today” tone that can stop a person dead in their tracks and scares the shit out of most white people…Serena Williams is a very smart woman…There’s nothing wrong with Serena Williams. Perhaps when more Black women tennis players ascend to the level of the Williams’ sisters and the Women’s Tennis Association has the opportunity to interact with more Black women outside of Serena and Venus, they won’t be so afraid of the Black girls. Perhaps.” (The author of Ebony Magazine’s July 2008 cover story on Serena Williams, Jasmyne Cannick can be reached at www.jasmynecannick.com)…
SERENA = BAD — African-American sports writer Jason Whitlock writing for FOX Sports: “[Kim] Clijsters put a clown suit on Serena. Two-and-a-half years after retiring to have a baby and in her first major since her return, she wiped the court with the self-described No. 1 player. Rather than take her beating like a a grown-ass woman, Serena first smashed her racket and then sacrificed match point with a ridiculous tirade directed at the line judge. Everybody knows damn well Serena has no business losing a major to a baby’s mama. And everyone knows damn well if Serena dropped 20 pounds and focused on her game, she’d be untouchable. But rather than focus on her unrealized potential, McEnroe and Serena’s other groupies want to pretend that calling a foot fault late in a match that Serena was clearly losing was some sort of hate crime worthy of Serena making a fool of herself. The foot fault didn’t cost Serena the U.S. Open. Just like nearly every other loss in her career, Serena’s unwillingness to compete at her highest level led to the defeat.”…
ESPN PTI’s Tony Kornheiser is writing off Roger Federer as someone who can win majors? Really? Stick to covering the football…
The ATP’s Xavier Malisse was kicked off the tour for a while after a Serena-like offense, but is Serena going to get off with no penalty? What message is that sending? Only $10K fine? That’s like fining you of me a dollar…
The RTBF television network reported that Justine Henin had recently bought 14 rackets…comeback time…
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