Serena Williams - Disgraceful

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Lord Tyrion said:
I heard that interview and I thought he spoke very well. Okay, I agreed with his comments and we all like it when that happens but he spoke rationally and backed up everything very well. He even cleared up the shirt changing moment, the umpire was correct, not sexist but the rule is outdated and should be changed for those who want to know. At the end of the day you can't just abuse or question the officials in any sport. If you allow that to happen then it is a bad day for that sport.

Williams is trying to change the narrative to cover her own behaviour but when you strip it back she behaved in a shameful manner. Don't lose that as the key in all of this.
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You’re making it sound like she’s the first Tennis player ever to abuse an official, christ sake, LP even brought her child in to the discussion.
She playing on the biggest stage in the world at the top of her sport, they need to sort the Officials out.
Try googling the Umpire and see what comes up
 
Her rant was totally out of order. Yes, people can question the official but not to the excesses that she went to.
But to brand the umpire and use words like liar, cheat and to brandish the sexism card just seems to me to be petulance.
 
Robster59 said:
Her rant was totally out of order. Yes, people can question the official but not to the excesses that she went to.
But to brand the umpire and use words like liar, cheat and to brandish the sexism card just seems to me to be petulance.
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She’s just come across as a bully who is used to getting her own way. All that “apologise to me” was embarrassing.
 
Robster59 said:
Her rant was totally out of order. Yes, people can question the official but not to the excesses that she went to.
But to brand the umpire and use words like liar, cheat and to brandish the sexism card just seems to me to be petulance.
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She is shocking - only have to look at her history , threatening the line judge at one point - in this rant she even brought her child into it going on about how she isn’t a cheat because she needs to be a good influence- well shouting and screaming and throwing abuse isn’t really a great role model
 
Didn’t see it live and not really a tennis fan but I am surprised how many of her peers seem to be focusing more on saying ‘she has a point’ rather than her belligerent and disrespectful attitude to a match official and her opponent

If she has a point then the final of a grand slam event is probably not the place for her to raise it, end of story really. I assume in tennis the player is accountable for their coaches actions much like a golfer and his caddy. I assume also that Serena knew this, so it doesn’t matter a jot whether she saw the advice and it was purely coincidence she did just what had been advised to do, she has to take the penalty for a rules breach (& take it up with her coach after the match)

The rest is just escalation from that judgment with her attempting to deflect and justify her innocence with an overtly public display and in doing so she managed to insult the official

We all have idiosyncrasies that rub us up the wrong way, maybe the umpire is like me in that if you stand there finger-wagging at me (+ throwing in insults like thief/liar) you’re gonna get pretty short-shrift until you change your behaviour and apologise to me
 
Liverpoolphil said:
She is shocking - only have to look at her history , threatening the line judge at one point - in this rant she even brought her child into it going on about how she isn’t a cheat because she needs to be a good influence- well shouting and screaming and throwing abuse isn’t really a great role model
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You can’t judge her as a parent, if she is fighting for something she believes in and is passionate then who are we to judge how she brings her child up.
People in glass houses etc......
 
pauldj42 said:
You’re making it sound like she’s the first Tennis player ever to abuse an official, christ sake, LP even brought her child in to the discussion.
She playing on the biggest stage in the world at the top of her sport, they need to sort the Officials out.
Try googling the Umpire and see what comes up
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Paul, I dislike anyone abusing officials in any sport. It is a pet hate of mine and I would say the same about anyone who behaved in the same way. Rooney was appalling for it, as are many footballers for example. Tennis has other meltdowns but the thread is about this particular one as it was in a final, it was a few days ago and it was a massive one. It was particularly aggressive, unpleasant and it dominated the end of the match. The official was correct in all of his decisions, tennis people are stating this over and over. She is the one who lost it and elevated the problem. Even a football ref would send a player off if he called him a cheat, which is what she did, and they take levels of abuse that are riduculous without blinking. If I was in charge of the umpires association I would asking for an urgent meeting with the relevant bodies regarding this. Officials need protecting, their integrity in particular.

If you want to even it up then we can always start a Nick Kyrgios thread as he creates a storm most tournaments. He has done plenty of disgraceful things in his career so far, given up on matches, abused officials etc. He gets the fine, pays it and moves on.

Regarding LP bringing her child into the discussion, she did that. She brought it up in her rant. She lost it, simple.
 
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Lord Tyrion said:
Paul, I dislike anyone abusing officials in any sport. It is a pet hate of mine and I would say the same about anyone who behaved in the same way. Rooney was appalling for it, as are many footballers for example. Tennis has other meltdowns but the thread is about this particular one as it was in a final, it was a few days ago and it was a massive one. It was particularly aggressive, unpleasant and it dominated the end of the match. The official was correct in all of his decisions, tennis people are stating this over and over. She is the one who lost it and elevated the problem. Even a football ref would send a player off if he called him a cheat, which is what she did, and they take levels of abuse that are riduculous without blinking. If I was in charge of the umpires association I would asking for an urgent meeting with the relevant bodies regarding this. Officials need protecting, their integrity in particular.

If you want to even it up then we can always start a Nick Kyrgios thread as he creates a storm most tournaments. He has done plenty of disgraceful things in his career so far, given up on matches, abused officials etc. He gets the fine, pays it and moves on.

Regarding LP bringing her child into the discussion, she did that. She brought it up in her rant. She lost it, simple.
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I'm the same. Maybe it's being brought up with Rugby (both codes) but the referee is treated with respect and anyone who disagrees is immediately penalised. I don't know why more sports don't adopt this culture.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Regarding LP bringing her child into the discussion, she did that. She brought it up in her rant. She lost it, simple.
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Correct, she was the one who brought her child into the rant. What that has to do with anything I don't know, or are we to assume she thinks that once a woman becomes a mother she also becomes a saint?
Sadly she has shown herself to be a bully and someone with no grace or class. She showed no respect for the officials, their position, what they represent or her opponent. She had a very partisan crowd on her side and milked it.
If she lost every tennis match from now on I wouldnt be upset.
 
Robster59 said:
I'm the same. Maybe it's being brought up with Rugby (both codes) but the referee is treated with respect and anyone who disagrees is immediately penalised. I don't know why more sports don't adopt this culture.
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Hockey and cricket for me so it is the same. It grates on me when anyone in any sport turns on an official.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Paul, I dislike anyone abusing officials in any sport. It is a pet hate of mine and I would say the same about anyone who behaved in the same way. Rooney was appalling for it, as are many footballers for example. Tennis has other meltdowns but the thread is about this particular one as it was in a final, it was a few days ago and it was a massive one. It was particularly aggressive, unpleasant and it dominated the end of the match. The official was correct in all of his decisions, tennis people are stating this over and over. She is the one who lost it and elevated the problem. Even a football ref would send a player off if he called him a cheat, which is what she did, and they take levels of abuse that are riduculous without blinking. If I was in charge of the umpires association I would asking for an urgent meeting with the relevant bodies regarding this. Officials need protecting, their integrity in particular.

If you want to even it up then we can always start a Nick Kyrgios thread as he creates a storm most tournaments. He has done plenty of disgraceful things in his career so far, given up on matches, abused officials etc. He gets the fine, pays it and moves on.

Regarding LP bringing her child into the discussion, she did that. She brought it up in her rant. She lost it, simple.
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First things first, she didn’t call him a cheat, she called him a thief.

She brought her child into it to defend herself from being called a cheat! The coach may of admitted he used hand signals afterwards, but she was punished for it, she stated she didn’t see the hand signals, therefore she was being accussed of cheating and, imo, is quite right to defend herself.
No issue with the raquet violation.
The match point for calling him a thief was born out of frustration and again he has been abused and sworn at and never used that penalty.
The WTA have come out and defended her, the US Open is reviewing their communication side of it.
Sometimes things get changed by people fighting for what’s right.
 
pauldj42 said:
...
Sometimes things get changed by people fighting for what’s right.
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Indeed!

She was rightly penalised for her coach's actions.
She was rightly penalised for the destruction of her racquet.
And she was rightly penalised for her abuse of an official!
 
Foxholer said:
Indeed!

She was rightly penalised for her coach's actions.
She was rightly penalised for the destruction of her racquet.
And she was rightly penalised for her abuse of an official!
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In your opinion.
 
pauldj42 said:
First things first, she didn’t call him a cheat, she called him a thief.

She brought her child into it to defend herself from being called a cheat! The coach may of admitted he used hand signals afterwards, but she was punished for it, she stated she didn’t see the hand signals, therefore she was being accussed of cheating and, imo, is quite right to defend herself.
No issue with the raquet violation.
The match point for calling him a thief was born out of frustration and again he has been abused and sworn at and never used that penalty.
The WTA have come out and defended her, the US Open is reviewing their communication side of it.
Sometimes things get changed by people fighting for what’s right.
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The umpire never called her a cheat and she also called the umpire a liar as well as a thief.

She was totally out of order and all 3 violations were spot on IMO.
 
ger147 said:
The umpire never called her a cheat and she also called the umpire a liar as well as a thief.

She was totally out of order and all 3 violations were spot on IMO.
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Isn’t getting coached “cheating” ?
So from her point of view he was calling her a cheat.
 
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