2019 French Open: Looking at Serena Williams’ tantrums and becoming a bad sport
- American’s early exit at the French Open this weekend was one thing, but bumping another player to expedite her press conference is another example of the star’s inability to keep her cool
- Here’s a look at some of her on court meltdowns, but will we look back on her career with a different viewpoint in decades to come?
Athletes are allowed to have off days. Sometimes they don’t want to speak to the media, sometime they lose their cool in the heat of the moment. When it’s few and far between we tend to give them a hall pass.
But when it becomes a recurring theme, it’s tougher and tougher to brush aside their actions.
In a vacuum, one might understand Serena Williams’ actions as she gracelessly bowed out of the French Open this weekend, in which she bumped Austria’s Dominic Thiem from his press conference so she could start her own and get the heck out of Paris.
Thiem questioned her “bad personality” but this is characteristic of the 37-year-old American, who has a list of instances where she has been less than stellar in terms of politeness.
Not feeling the love at the 2003 French Open
Williams’ loss to Justin Henin-Hardenne in the 2003 French Open semi-finals is as excruciating as a prolonged visit to the dentist. It’s clear Williams was having an off day but she would later accuse the Belgian of “lying and fabricating” her way to the win. Williams was consistently booed for repeatedly slowing down the match to scold and shoot glances at the umpire and her opponent, much to the dismay of the crowd in Paris, who were obviously pro-Henin. Or, as the announcer said after the match, “Oh la la.”
Down the throat at the 2009 US Open
In one of her first public outbursts that caused many fans to question the Michigan-born superstar’s personality, Williams lost her cool after a foot fault during a semi-final match against Kim Clijsters. It was quite clear she was waiting for something to blow up at. Her body language says it all, ‘I’m going to lose, now it’s time for me to find someone to blame.’ And then she decided to cap it off with a profanity-laced tirade that she was going to shove a tennis ball down the line judge’s throat.
Disaster at the 2011 US Open
Watching Williams prolonged meltdown against Sam Stosur in the final of the 2011 US Open is like watching a car accident in slow motion. Williams, then ranked 28th, was outgunned and outmatched by the ninth-ranked Australian, and started her spiral by taking her frustrations out on her racquet and ending it with her getting called for yelling during Stosur’s back swing. Of course, there’s the requisite Williams quote to go along with it all, as she asks the umpire: “Aren’t you the one who screwed me over here last year?”
Sexism at the 2018 US Open
Last year Williams bowed out to Naomi Osaka in the final of the US Open, in a match filled with temper tantrums that culminated in her calling the umpire “sexist” and blaming her defeat on him. Forget the fact that she was playing against another woman, Williams diverting her poor play (she lost in straight sets) to an issue of gender smacks of desperation more than evidence. She also stole the spotlight from a player she should be eager to help, a young visible minority tennis star navigating the tricky waters of stardom much like she did early in her career.
Outburst highlight reel
When short clips of you smashing your racquet, berating umpires, getting snippy with opponents and bombing press conferences can fill 12 minutes on YouTube, it’s tough to debate you have some anger issues.
Of course, it’s probably good to throw an asterisk onto this video and all of Williams’ antics, given pretty much all of her big matches are commentated by John McEnroe, who made a career out of berating refs, yelling at opponents and swearing at fans.
McEnroe, once hated by the tennis community, is now loved by the masses.
Sexism? Racism? Williams is a woman in a male-dominated game and a visible minority to boot. In calling out her outrage, we may want to lay some context in a decade or so when we look back on the female star who shattered the colour barrier and took the game forward into the spotlight.
