Serena wasn't gracious in her press conference.

Don't forget that was her second time to get cited for unsportsmanlike conduct in the match.

c-jags-

Whats the point of having rules if you cannot enforce them in an entire competition? Serena knows the rules. A foot fault, much like a walk, can be called at any time during the game or match, there is no rule that it cannot be called at a certain time. If you break the rules, you pay the price, no matter what time it is. The bottom line is, if Serena doesnt act the way she did, she might be playing today.

That was embarrasing. Completely inexusable behavior.

It does not matter if it was a bad call or not. Those happen and are a part of any athletic event. Serena has benefited from bad calls before, she has been on the tough side of bad calls.

They're no excuse to pull a stunt like that. I hope she is suspended.

BTW, she was going to lose, anyways. And I feel horrible for Kim as her storybook comeback tournament has forever been tarnished by Serena's chicken**** actions.

wow

Del Potro's really taking it to Nadal

That was Nadal's worse loss in a major...

Bigfoot I agree in theory but as you well well know from coaching/playing and as is true in most any sport, the officials should let the players determine the outcome of a match. To call a footfault on second serve 15-30, 5-6 in the third, ESPECIALLY when it was a very, very questionable call and not an OBVIOUS footfault - it was a TERRIBLE decision to make the call, no doubt about it.

If it had been blatant and her foot had been all over the line, ok fine rules are rules and you have to call it - but it was definitely a very questionable call.

Again, all of this is completely separate from the fact that Serena acted like a complete fool. To me the worst part of it is that she stole the joy of a righteous victory from Kim (who was going to win it anyway). I hope Kim wins the final and gets to celebrate properly.

Harry, they did not have a view from a baseline camera, and no matter how much they zoom in from the other cameras, you can't possibly see it the way that the line judge did. Serena had been called for a foot fault a few times in the tournament, and she knows that if she stands that close to the line, and pivots her left foot the way she does, her forefoot can go over the line.


Bottom line, if you can't enforce the rule at 15-30 in the second set, which takes you to match point, then whats the point of having the rule??? I cant stand hearing the "Well it was not the right time to call it" argument. There is no right or wrong time to play by the rules. There have been challenges in the US Open that have ended a match, does that mean that the rule shouldnt have been in play then either??

Rules are rules. They are in place to be enforced. End of story.

Besides, the foot fault didnt cause her to lose the match. If she had let it go, it would have been 15-40 and she might have come back to win and be playing tonight. The foot fault was not the reason for the point penalty. Her cursing out the line judge was.

[This message has been edited by bigfoot10s (edited 9/13/2009 4:54p).]

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c-jags-

Whats the point of having rules if you cannot enforce them in an entire competition? Serena knows the rules. A foot fault, much like a walk, can be called at any time during the game or match, there is no rule that it cannot be called at a certain time. If you break the rules, you pay the price, no matter what time it is. The bottom line is, if Serena doesnt act the way she did, she might be playing today.

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y'all misunderstand me. I'm not saying they shouldn't call foot faults. they should. i'm just saying call it even for everybody.

the only foot faults i saw the entire Open came against the Williams sisters. I did not watch every match played but I'll say I've probably watched over 20 hours of it this year and I honest to God can not quote you a single foot fault outside of them. can you? I honestly would like to know who else had them. Very likely plenty of other players DID have them, but I sure as heck didn't see them.

That being said, unless they are the only two players foot faulting in the entire tournament, it was a **** call.

Serena deserved exactly what happened. It was characteristically ungracious and rude. I have no defense of her actions. She didn't have a TON of respect with me to begin with, but she just about lost all of it there.

[This message has been edited by c-jags (edited 9/13/2009 9:32p).]

Well in the midst of all the hoopla..... Kim Clijsters wins the US Open. SO well deserved- couldn't happen to a nicer person, and at only her 3rd tournament back??? Amazing! Way to go Kim!!!

blue diamond for her. Behind Dementieva and Dulko she was my favorite to watch and cheer for.

It's a shame Serena's antics got in the way of her amazing run.

oh, and we haven't even talked about Roger's semi match today...

He absolutely dominated, and made what he called the "shot of his career" one point before match point.

You all know how big of a fan I am of his through the majors threads on the board this year, but it is truly remarkable to see him at his low after the great Aussie Final, to seeing him like he was tonight. This year has been unreal for Rog, and I hope he takes it to Del Potro who is playing GREAT tennis tomorrow.

[This message has been edited by J Peterman (edited 9/13/2009 11:06p).]

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Harry, they did not have a view from a baseline camera, and no matter how much they zoom in from the other cameras, you can't possibly see it the way that the line judge did.

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I hear what you are saying - a ball is either in or out - it is an objective call, and a footfault call should be the same.

After thinking about it, my guess is that the footfault must have been pretty obvious from the official's point of view. No one in their right mind would want the kind of negative attention that is obviously going to ensue from making that call.

Geez, you guys are bunch of poosays!

I hope you don't get smacked around by 5th graders like in "Step Brothers" too much.

*********************************************************************************************************************
"Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women."

quote:

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I agree in theory but as you well well know from coaching/playing and as is true in most any sport, the officials should let the players determine the outcome of a match. To call a footfault on second serve 15-30, 5-6 in the third, ESPECIALLY when it was a very, very questionable call and not an OBVIOUS footfault - it was a TERRIBLE decision to make the call, no doubt about it.

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I hate the "don't let the officials determine the outcome of a match" argument. If a foul/penalty is a foul/penalty, it should be called, regardless of what point of the match it is. Exhibit A:

HHH, everyone wants to let the officials to swallow their whistles until they're on the wrong side of it, huh?

WTF is ELLEN doing on CBS right now?

the live video pre-match coverage is online...but I want to watch this on the tube...

Guide says it should be the Final...

this would be major fail on the part of CBS if Ellen is shown over the final.

and at the bottom of the screen I read "due to contract obligations the US Open Championship will air on CW Texas from 3:00-5:30


wow....truly an failure.

They did the same thing last year. I kept trying to tell people that when they were moaning about the French Open coverage.

They're showing the match on the CW network. I guess Ellen is more important.....NOT!!!! Let's go Rog!!

Roger up 5-4 and 30-0 2 points away from taking a 2 set lead....and Del Potro hits one down the line that is called out, and the review says a sliver caught the line. Roger clearly frustrated, gets broken, and then DP holds...

Now Federer at 5-6 in the 2nd set and serving.

interesting.

a mini-break on a roger mis-hit, and everything else holds during the tiebreak...Del Potro takes the set!

the review of that call clearly disturbed Roger into the next game, he kept pointing to the line and looking at the mark it made.

This is setting up for an exciting finish.

makes me want to get out and play

Fed with the language. "I don't give a sh*t" to the official. Careful, don't pull a Serena.

it was a bogus call.

[This message has been edited by J Peterman (edited 9/14/2009 5:46p).]

Wow, what a match. I really now think that del Potro is the 3rd best player in the men's game. Murray and Djokovic both appear weak at times. Del Potro can even beat Nadal and Federer now, and he's only 20!

Great run by Del Potro.

Great match to close out the year!!

Disappointed for Rog as it's hard to cheer against him, but I like some fresh blood coming in... Just wish it was an American. Del Potro seems more like a quiet class act like Fed and Nadal than the likes of Djok and Murray.

well I'm disappointed that Fed let it slip away, but I'm glad Del Potro is now on the board as a Slam winner.

Roger really fell apart, never had his A game today, and Del Potro turned it on towards the end of the 2nd set.

Great tennis.

On to next year.

c-jags, i agree with you about Del Potro. I remember watching some of the US Open series, and there was a tournament that he didnt even play, because he had a minor injury. He got penalized for pulling out of it, even though he could've gone out and played one set, then pulled out, and he wouldn't have been penalized. However, he chose to pull out before the tournament, because it allowed another person to play in his spot. That's the right way to go about things in my book.

I am somewhat disappointed that Federer lost, but I'm glad he lost to someone as good a player and as gracious as Del Potro.