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Return of the ugly American - is that competition or just bad sportsmanship?

the previous comment by the viewer, honestly need to learn the game of tennis...this is a call that never should have been made...serena is a class act, and at this level in a semifinal , it never should have been made, especially by someone who has never played the game

to cancungod,

Serena needs to learn the game, as do you.

Breaking your racket during a tantrum leads to warnings, such as the case earlier in this match. Poor training leads to foot faults. Verbally assaulting the linesman, instead of the CHAIR is plain dumb. And menacing people with your racket is NOT the behavior of a class act.

I feel for the opponent Kim Clijsters. Her remarkable victory over the ugly american will be forever lost due to the poor behavior of Serena.

Ms Clijsters is the first mother to reach a Slam final in 30 years.

Very few can return to this high high level of play after a >2yrs hiatus.

Kim Clijsters did. Now that’s a class act.

let us make one thing clear, this tournament calls foot fault so much, and a violation for braking one racket should not have been done, i mean if it is reasonable it should not have been made, There are many palyers who breaks a racket but doesn't get a penalty and gets away with it and even the tirade many players gets away with, it is just Serena that they need to make an example because of her stature in tennis, she is the most famous maybe second to Sharapova but still up there. They are even more famous than a federer or nadal. But i feel bad for Clijsters as well because you don't want people having doubts if you really could have won the match, but i am happy for her.

Serena finally had some real competition and couldn't control herself...menacing a lineswoman with a racket and verbally assaulting her is hardly the behavior of a true champion.

Can someone verify if she is still one of Jehovah's Witnesses? Such a behavior is not acceptable for Jehovah's Witnesses. What a shame! In case she still is, what a hypocrite!

It really doesn't matter if others have "gotten away with" bad behavior; it still doesn't make bad behavior right. Serena was getting beaten, and she lost control. My young son plays tennis and he couldn't believe the display he was seeing...what a poor example...someone of her caliber displaying such poor sportsmanship. If the call was bad, take it up with the chair umpire. And her post-match interview was even worse...absolutely no regrets and lots of excuses and blame. She showed complete lack of class on the court and off.

just goes to show what kind of person she is.......if you can't even admit you made a mistake and say you're sorry I don't even know what to say!

She should be suspended for 6 months minimum!

Rules are rules! There was no foot fault, true. The call was made, within the rules. Serena had options which certainly did not include her outburst. Said outburst violated the rules. I would have preferred to have her protest to the chair and possibly have the line judge removed. Instead, we'll never know what Serena or the opponent are capable of.

And I force myself to remember, whenever a bad call is made in any sport, that matches/games/tournaments are never won or lost on 1 point, call, or play. This was a case which ended a match that was simply not played as well by Serena as was by her opponent.

Serena is a professional athlete and I regard her management of the call as professional. She should have continued play rather than engaging with the lines woman. I think the pressure of the match, the dynamic game of her opponent, and the moment all contributed to her outburst, which is the issue. The measure of champions is how they respond under fire.

correction -
Serena is a professional athlete and I regard her management of the call as UNprofessional. She should have continued play rather than engaging with the lines woman. I think the pressure of the match, the dynamic game of her opponent, and the moment all contributed to her outburst, which is the issue. The measure of champions is how they respond under fire.

The linesman was at wrong about the foot fault. This was indeed verified. Serena had a right to be angry. The problem is that her anger got out of control and she was indeed disrespectful. But ALL of us have been in a situation in which we have acted the same way. I am not excusing her behavior--in fact, it was good she was penalized but she made a mistake!! That is all! Holy Kaw! So what---she is still a beautiful person inside and out. I still admire her. John McEnroe did similiar behavior and the public accepted him.

If she didn't DO a foot fault, she had good reason to be pissed-off. How many foot faults were called on Lilly-white little twits in the tournament??? In MY view, she SHOULD have shoved the ball down that Japs throat and send back where she come from!!!!!!

So a female athlete has acted like male athletes do all the time and it's a big controversy.....give me a blessed break.

Sportsmanship is a rarity in todays sport. Not only that it is also NOT penalized in an appropriate manner. Look at J McEnroe, the great master of abuses! HE is a TV COMMENTATOR TODAY! So much for American ways!

i hope serena will shut up now about being no. 1... the belgians will keep her at no. 2. she couldn't beat justine in a slam, and now kim's got her number, too. and what a cocky person, anyway... she totally showed her lack of class by a) not even acknowledging her bad behavior, and b) refusing to even consider apologizing. get real.

A foot fault call like that at a critical point of the game , get real ! That poor little asian victim, should have had some testing before she was allowed as a line judge, and what with the chair judge not taking any leadership ? Kim would have won anyways and I feel most for her because the moment was stolen by poor judging. Athletes lose their cool when things like thatt happen all the time, so I'm sure Serena regrets not taking her case to the chair.

Don't worry about a thing, Serena was just practicing for her new job at ACORN.

fuck that shit about professionalism, professionals wouldn't make a shit call, and don't give me any diplomatic bullshit, you fucking sub school teaching crossing guard no minds, fucking embarrassing foot fault, give me a break.

Lets' see the ratings for CBS without Serena or Venus in the finals. I'll bet the execs are pissing in their clothes. Clijsters is the feel good story of the tournament. even when she was playing regularly, how many grand slams did she have? A foot fault to set up match point. Only an idiot would make that call unless her entire foot was on the line.

I'm riding with Serena on this one. There was no foot fault. Period. That lines person should be banned from future events. I'm boycotting the rest of these games. Serena is a champion. We'll get 'em next time. Hate on haters.

That is complete horseshit - Serena should be suspended. Regardless of whether there was actually a footfault or not (and it is impossible to tell from angle of footage here) game officials deserve respect. North American sport is full of bigshot asshole sportspeople abusing referees and here's another example. McEnroe was a complete asshole on the court at times, and Serena is no different, she proved she was an asshole too. The fact she can't even bring herself to apologize proves she's a trashy skank with no class. Funny as hell though, laughed my ass off, just like watching dumb fatass American tourists in foreign countries... hope she does it again. In the coming weeks it'll be fun watching her sponsors a) try to turn this into something good, b) drop like shell casings during a good drive-by. "You can take a girl out of the trailer park but you can't take the trailer park out...."

Ref - you're the asshole. Serena rocks because she kicks ass...just like America. Take your foreign countries and sponsors and shove em up your ass....don't need em, don't care, especially if you're the best female tennis player. Serena is an amazing tennis player and person, real fans support her and her actions.

OMG - could this get any more embarassing?

1. No sponsors = no sport.
2. "Amazing tennis player and person" - yes, what an exceptional role model - Serena for President.

Dude... go read a book or something, maybe sniff something other than glue.

to cancun god...

To be a line judge, you need to have good eyes. It doesn't matter if you've played the sport or not.

Everyone is human and can loose their cool. The fact that she she never actually apologized until today is where I have the problem. Seems to me like the only reason she is apologizing at this point is because everyone else is telling her to. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON SHE SHOUDN'T HAVE APOLOGIZED AT HER FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE. This shows a severe lack of humility.

I will be the first to admit that I have lost my temper before in my life. I don't think that automatically makes me an "ugly" person. If she does it over and over again, it says something about her. If it happens once... We should be able to forgive her. Heck, John McEnroe makes commercials joking about how he lost his temper, and people love him!