Umpire helps Serena by doing the right thing.

The umpire was 100% right but it has got Serena and the crowd going. I feel sorry for Stosur. How can Serena think that shouting during a point is ok. The stuff she is saying to the umpire is vile. What a great example for kids who want to play the sport!

Sam is the deserved winner. 2 bitter grand slam final losses for Serena. First Wimby then USO. Maybe she does not deserve any more slams and it is for the good of women's tennis.

Serena never deserved one slam. A horrible example of a human being.

Indeed, perhaps they are learning slowly! If someone(s) had stepped in with McEnroe in the early days, and Connors, then they wouldn't have become the monsters they were allowed to be, on occasion.

I wonder if Serena's visit to Sam's chair, was a quick attempt at graciousness, to counter her behaviour? If so, great, at least she's thinking...

Super D Boon wrote:Serena never deserved one slam. A horrible example of a human being.

Serena behaved badly, no question about it, but we've seen countless examples of bad behaviour in sporting arenas; would you be so quick to judge all of those sportsmen and women in the most extreme way - labelling them as horrible examples of human beings?

Try to keep some perspective; we're talking about a sportswoman who lost her cool in the cauldron, not Mussolini or Hitler.

Serena was well out of order and got ultimately what she deserved.

It will be interesting to see what action is now taken regarding the suspension that was not imposed two years ago. If that was still a potential threat then her poor behaviour could come back to haunt her.

I hope she gets banned. I can't stand her attitude on and off court, and the lack of realisation on her part for the potential bad example she sets is just stupid, or at best, plain selfish.

I remember back in Mcenroes day, a lot of the issues were over line calls - to be honest that helped drag the umpiring of the game forwards and away from old sleepy club members who got gifted the chance to call lines, towards properly trained young people with decent eye sight. I see what Serena has done (twice) as a far cry from this and purely inappropriate and sickening behaviour.

She's a conundrum because in some respects she's very mecurial - I think it was to her credit that she got over her disappointment and was very quick to go and congratulate Stosur after her loss - and in others she bears grudges and resentments long term - viz Indian Wells, Henin, and officials who she believes have 'crossed' her.

Ultimately I think part of the problem of the WTA and other bodies responsible for women's tennis is their reluctance to treat the stars the same as everyone else, and the stars for the last 10 years have been Serena and Venus, so I agree that they need to do something about this.

They might also start doing something about the awful noises too many women players make, which are turning people off watching.

barrystar wrote:She's a conundrum because in some respects she's very mecurial - I think it was to her credit that she got over her disappointment and was very quick to go and congratulate Stosur after her loss - and in others she bears grudges and resentments long term - viz Indian Wells, Henin, and officials who she believes have 'crossed' her.

Ultimately I think part of the problem of the WTA and other bodies responsible for women's tennis is their reluctance to treat the stars the same as everyone else, and the stars for the last 10 years have been Serena and Venus, so I agree that they need to do something about this.

They might also start doing something about the awful noises too many women players make, which are turning people off watching.

interesting point about the noises women make, as even though i totally agree with the umpire and that i think Serena should be banned, there is an interesting contradiction in terms of the screaming women make during points. For example Venus i remember screaming as if she were hitting a massive ground stroke, when tapping a volley over the net - it was therefore more war cry that exhalation - therefore was this also breaching the intentional noise rule? - does a line need to be drawn somewhere for the women's screaming by utilising this rule? It seems a good place to start. We've come a long way from Seles' grunting, which seems quiet by today's standards

The problem is that its when you scratch the surface of people - under stress, in difficulty - that they reveal their true selves, and unfortunately when she does that it's not pleasant.

Sure, the after match chat was very charming but I think by them she probably knew she had to make it up to the player and maybe had an eye on the judgement of others. Then again, the Umpire got no handshake which is absurd.

And what the Hell does she think she's doing telling the Umpire that she's "in America you know"? And as for "don't look at me" that was outrageous and deserved another warning. The Umpire is going to talk to who she wishes and look where she wants, the player has the option to leave the Court is she doesn't like it.

Thankfully her Mum looked apalled.

Do get the impression with Serena that she acts like some one half her age.

I think that the noise issue is a real problem with women's tennis. I well understand that there is some science behind the beneficial effect of an exhalation of air at the moment of hitting the ball, but the idea that this needs to be accompanied by a huge and lengthy screech is nonsense to me.

Nadal grunts, as do many men, but they just do not take it to the same excess as the women and it does not linger in the same way.

To my mind the lie to what some of the women are doing is given by the fact that they vary the volume during the course of a match - as an example watch Venus when she's down and she really screams. I suspect that coaches tell very young girls to make a noise so that the coach knows that they are exhaling when they should be - but I also suspect that the 'gamesmanship' potential is also there or thereabouts in players' minds.

I think that as well as the WTA/Slams being weak on the top women, that the respective locker room cultures are very different. I have been told by a female player who was on the edges of the main WTA tour that the men have more of a camaraderie and the women are foul to one another. I suspect that the men would take the rip out of excessive prima donna behaviour, whilst since many of the women have been put in a bubble by their parents from an early age they stay in that bubble in the locker room.

The authorities responsible for Junior Tennis have got to say to players and coaches that they can make whatever noises they want in practice, but on Court quiet must prevail and to say that say, by the beginning of the 2013 season they will start docking points and defaulting main tour players for grunting to give them all a year to work it out of their games (if they can work on other habits they can work on audible screeching).

As for Tom_______'s other point about Serena, I understand that Serena and Venus were brought up very strictly by their father - but I wonder how many people have told Serena where she gets off since she became a really big star about 10 years ago.

barrystar wrote:I have been told by a female player who was on the edges of the main WTA tour that the men have more of a camaraderie and the women are foul to one another.

As for Tom_______'s other point about Serena, I understand that Serena and Venus were brought up very strictly by their father - but I wonder how many people have told Serena where she gets off since she became a really big star about 10 years ago.

That's fairly typical of most situations where men and women are in competitive situations. I suspect we (men) are hard wired to be competitive but fraternal (I have heard it suggested this goes back to us having to rely on each other when hunting) but women pull each other to pieces. I have two sons and two daughters and I have seen this in them; both lads have their stable crowd of mates, never fall out, steady without becoming dependent, that sort of thing whereas I need a diary to keep up with who my youngest daughters best friends are. She goes on & off them like crazy, mostly depending so far as I can see on who is suiting her right now. God help her future husband!

Hope not to offend the girls here (or ladies if you prefer!) but I think that's just the way the sexes are.

As for telling her where to get off, I mean, seriously, without a bodyguard who would?

bogbrush wrote:

barrystar wrote:I have been told by a female player who was on the edges of the main WTA tour that the men have more of a camaraderie and the women are foul to one another.

As for Tom_______'s other point about Serena, I understand that Serena and Venus were brought up very strictly by their father - but I wonder how many people have told Serena where she gets off since she became a really big star about 10 years ago.

That's fairly typical of most situations where men and women are in competitive situations. I suspect we (men) are hard wired to be competitive but fraternal (I have heard it suggested this goes back to us having to rely on each other when hunting) but women pull each other to pieces. I have two sons and two daughters and I have seen this in them; both lads have their stable crowd of mates, never fall out, steady without becoming dependent, that sort of thing whereas I need a diary to keep up with who my youngest daughters best friends are. She goes on & off them like crazy, mostly depending so far as I can see on who is suiting her right now. God help her future husband!

Hope not to offend the girls here (or ladies if you prefer!) but I think that's just the way the sexes are.

As for telling her where to get off, I mean, seriously, without a bodyguard who would?

totally agree there Bog and Barry, especially on the fraternal nature the men have. Interest moment for me:

Youznhey clip of head bashing. Best part for me is when Almagro (who is serving for the match in a deciding set) comes up asks if hes ok and has a giggle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHCDdoXHjjg

Competitive/fraternal right there

I recommend 'Venus Envy' by L Jon Wertheim for an interesting insight into behind the scenes at the WTA. Slightly out-of-date now, but still a good read.

Tom_____ wrote:

bogbrush wrote:

barrystar wrote:I have been told by a female player who was on the edges of the main WTA tour that the men have more of a camaraderie and the women are foul to one another.

As for Tom_______'s other point about Serena, I understand that Serena and Venus were brought up very strictly by their father - but I wonder how many people have told Serena where she gets off since she became a really big star about 10 years ago.

That's fairly typical of most situations where men and women are in competitive situations. I suspect we (men) are hard wired to be competitive but fraternal (I have heard it suggested this goes back to us having to rely on each other when hunting) but women pull each other to pieces. I have two sons and two daughters and I have seen this in them; both lads have their stable crowd of mates, never fall out, steady without becoming dependent, that sort of thing whereas I need a diary to keep up with who my youngest daughters best friends are. She goes on & off them like crazy, mostly depending so far as I can see on who is suiting her right now. God help her future husband!

Hope not to offend the girls here (or ladies if you prefer!) but I think that's just the way the sexes are.

As for telling her where to get off, I mean, seriously, without a bodyguard who would?

totally agree there Bog and Barry, especially on the fraternal nature the men have. Interest moment for me:

Youznhey clip of head bashing. Best part for me is when Almagro (who is serving for the match in a deciding set) comes up asks if hes ok and has a giggle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHCDdoXHjjg

Competitive/fraternal right there

A nice look on Almagro's face there, he could have been pretty p$ssed off to be delayed at that point.

I was there with my wife and 6-year-old daughter. With all the noise at Ashe, it took a few minutes to grasp what was happening. The ear phones that help us pick up live commentary helped.

On Sep 11, we would liked to have an American win the title. But, Sam Stosur was by far the better player yesterday. With or without the help of that controversial point, Sam would have won.

Serena's verbal tirade against the chair umpire was totally unjustified. At first, one would have thought it was in the heat of the moment. However, if you listened carefully, she also used the "I am an American, how dare you" card when she said, "the last time I checked, we are in America." That was a well calibrated and precisely directed weapon to get support from the partisan (us included) crowd, and to alienate the Greek woman sitting in the high chair. Once we heard that, we were disgusted knowing that she was uttering those words tactically, not simply overcome by emotions.

Good for you, Leff. I thought the crowd swung, but not for long, and once Sam regained her composure they got behind her well. As partisan crowds go, they were very fair.

Sam probably played her best ever, and she handled the ugly situation quite well on and off the court. Credit to her.