Good tennis player, bad tennis player, great tennis player it did not matter at the U.S. Open. Serena Williams learned last night bad behavior is rewarded with penalties and in this case the penalty caused her to lose her semifinal match at the U.S. Open.
After Serena had been called for a foot fault on her second serve to go match point down, the No. 2 seed Serena cursed at the lineswoman who had made the call. The lineswoman then walked over to the chair umpire and reported Serena for verbal abuse. Because she had already received an earlier warning in the match for smashing a racket, Serena was handed an automatic point penalty for a second violation. That gave Kim Clijsters a 6-4, 7-5 victory. The unseeded Belgian will play No. 9 seed Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday night for the U.S. Open women’s championship. Photo: Flynet Pictures
