The media storm over Serena Williams’ outburst in Arthur Ashe stadium will pass. But a new day has dawned for women’s tennis. Kim Clijsters’ defeat of the women holding the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open titles means that the Williams’ sisters domination of the slams outside Paris faces a strong examination.
Clijsters was playing Caroline Wozniacki early this morning in the final. No matter how that match turned out, Clijsters has laid down a marker for the present and the immediate future.
She is back. And she may just be better.
The expletive-laden outburst by Williams drowned out a quieter but substantial truth. Clijsters had dominated this semi-final. The scoreline of 6-4, 7-5 was an accurate reflection of the play.
Tellingly, Williams knew this. The racket throwing and the abuse of a lineswoman was the result of frustration. Williams threw the racket after losing the first set and berated the lineswoman after being called for a foot fault as she served to stay in the match. The foot fault, harshly awarded, took the score to 15-40 at 5-6 in the second. The resulting loss of a point for unsportsmanlike conduct meant Clijsters was through to the final. Brian Early, the tournament referee, came on to court and later confirmed that a point penalty had been awarded after the lineswoman had reported to the umpire what had been said by Williams.
The rant has a received version after hours of hundreds of journalists and lip readers scrutinising tapes of the match.
Her foul-mouthed tirade goes something like this: “I swear to God I’ll f*****g take this f*****g ball and shove it down your f*****g throat! Do you hear me? I swear to God. You better be glad – you better be f*****g glad that I’m not, I swear.”
Williams later said of the lineswoman: “I’ve never been in a fight my whole life so I don’t know why she would have felt threatened.” The player said she could not remember what she said.
Williams, who faces a maximum fine of $10,000, was in no mood for remorse in the immediate aftermath of the furore. “I haven’t really thought about it to have any regrets. I try not to live my life saying: ‘I wish, I wish’. I was out there and I fought and I tried and I did my best.”
And she lost.
Clijsters was excellent. “I saw her play in Cincinnati,” said Williams of the player who has made a comeback after two years out. “She played incredible there. I thought, wow, this is someone to watch out for.”
The Belgian, a former world No.1, retired after persistent injury and then had a baby, Jada Ellie. Her return after the death of her father, Lei, to cancer has been simply sensational. She was reluctant to become embroiled in the controversy.
“It was unfortunate that a match where I was playing so well had to end that way,” she said. “I’m a little bit confused about what happened out there just because I was so focused. I was seeing the ball really well and I was hitting it well.”
There was also a sense of bewilderment in her progress in a grand slam tournament where she has beaten both Williams sisters. “I never really expected to be beating Venus and Serena. You try to bring your best tennis but you do not expect things to be going as well this soon.”
The Clijsters’ game has reached an impressive level, with certain elements seeming to be better than when she was world No.1. Her strength of mind has improved. Clijsters was calm in ever storm that faced her on Arthur Ashe court.
The depth of her strokes was faultless. Williams was continually on the back foot and could not bring telling pressure to bear on the Belgian. Clijsters, too, has achieved an incredible level of fitness after being out so long. After a long rally on Saturday night, Williams was breathing heavily but the air from Clijsters’ mouth would not have blown out a candle.
The expletive-laden air from the mouth of Williams finished the match but it should not overshadow what went before. “Things ended up a little bit different from what I expected,” said Clijsters of the dramatic end to the semi-final.
Everything will be different in the world of women’s tennis from now on.
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