Sports
Serena Williams talks to head referee Brian Earley (AFP Photo / Timothy A. Clary)
Temper cost Serena US Open final
Published 13 September, 2009, 08:39
Edited 15 September, 2009, 03:16
Defending US Open champion Serena Williams has been knocked out of the semi-finals in dramatic fashion.
She lost her temper with a line judge on a match-point against Kim Clijsters and was docked a point, handing the Belgian a place in the final.
It was a match in which an irritable Serena kept losing points and her temper. She smashed her racquet into the court after committing an unforced error to lose the first set.
And as the Belgian former World No. 1 kept piling up pressure on the American, the defending champ seemed unable to handle it.
The final straw came when an umpire called a foot fault on William’s second serve to hand Clijsters a chance at match point.
Serena hurled abuse at the line judge, who made the call.
"I'm going to shove this ball down your f------ throat," Serena said to the judge, according to Reuters news agency.
And the umpire then gave the American a point penalty for her outburst, which gave Clijsters the match, 6-4 7-5.
But there won't be an all-Belgian final at Flushing Meadows.
Clijsters will face Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets in the other semi, 6-3 6-3.
Wozniacki has reached her first Grand Slam final.
Nadal finishes off Gonzalez
In the men's game, Rafael Nadal lost little time after a two-day wait for his quarter-final match against Fernando Gonzalez.
They were stopped by rain on Thursday night, with Nadal a set to the good and 3-2 up in the second-set tie-break.
The World No. 3 wrapped up the tie-break 7-2 and stormed to 6-0 scoreline in the third.
He faces Juan Martin del Porto in the semi-finals later today, and could play in the final as soon as tomorrow, meaning he'll have to appear on the court for a third day running.
World No. 1 Roger Federer will play Novak Djokovic in the other semi-final.
