Serena Williams gets jobbed at the US Open

[rakesh.s]

terrible..4 calls go against her, with one in the beginning of the third set and THREE during the same point..unfrigginbelievable

gotta pull the race card here...first it was venus, now it's serena.....makes you wonder if they're trying to boost the ratings by making the williams' sisters lose

[Murphy3]

Why do you believe the race card needs to be pulled? Mistakes were made, but there's no reason to believe that race was involved.

[u2sarajevo]

How would knocking out the Williams sisters increase ratings? The sisters, and Maria Sharpova, are the only reasons I would watch. I have no interest in the Womens side anymore.

[Fidel]

Well this was as close to a fixed game as I´ve seen. First the chair umpire basicly stole a game from Serena earlier in the third. That ball was so in, it wasn´t even near the line or anything. Then there were three blantantly missed calls in the final game of the third set. All three weren´t even close or tough to call. All three calls went in Capriatis favor and resulted in direct points.

I don´t think it had much to do with race though. If anything somebody wanted New York born Capriati to advance. I hope she´ll get destroyed by Dementieva in the semis.

[Murphy3]

In Chrissy's last match against Martina Navratilova, a line judge missed a call on the last point of the match. The ball was a extremely soft shot by Chris that knicked the net and fell over with about 4-5 inches to spare from being out. Guess what, the line judge called it out and the chair ump didn't overrule it despite protests by BOTH players. There's no way in hell that anyone would have thrown out accusations that the match was fixed or anything else. Mistakes happen.

It irritates the hell out of me to see someone calling a sporting event 'fixed' or to throw out the race card. Mistakes happen and sometimes they are one sided. That does not mean that it is purposeful...it's just the way things go sometimes.

[Fidel]

I didn´t say it was fixed. I just said it was as close as you can get, meaning it did look like it was fixed at times. If it would have been the one missed call early in the third set, well as bad as that call was, stuff like that happens. But I think the last game of the match was a different story. There were three missed calls in that game. Two shots of Serena that were fully on the line were called out. Those shots really weren´t close or anything they were simply just in. Also a service winner by Capriati was about 10 cm too long.

I´ve seen alot of tennis matches in my life, and I´ve seen alot of missed calls. But usually that goes both ways and you have really huge mistakes once or twice a match, maybe even once or twice a set if the line judges are bad. But I´ve never seen three so blatant missed calls in just one service game, all in favor of one player and to top it off all that in the decisice game of a grand slam quarterfinals match.

[Male30Dan]

I have played competitive tennis for 13 years, (with an additional 3 to learn the game and how to properly play). I have played in well over 50 amateur tournaments and I have won my fair share of trophys... With that said, I have NEVER in my entire life seen a worse job of calling a tennis match than in the match between Jennifer and Serena... Murph, you can say that this was a match full of mistakes until you are blue in the face, but that many calls in the final set of a major going one way is tough for me to swallow!!!

Bottom line is that Serena should be playing on and Jennifer should be packing to leave NY!!!

[Fidel]

By Greg Garber
ESPN.com

NEW YORK -- Serena Williams was wandering through her quarterfinal match with Jennifer Capriati when chair umpire Mariana Alves made a grievous mistake -- the first of several.

Serving the first game of the third set at deuce, Williams hit a thundering backhand past Capriati, a clear winner. The ball correctly was called good by the lineswoman -- replays showed it barely grazed the inside of the line -- which should have made it advantage-Williams. But the Portugese umpire, on the opposite side of the court, saw the ball out and overruled the call, giving the advantage to Capriati.

When Williams heard the score, she wheeled and started walking toward the umpire's chair.


"No!" Williams shrieked. "No, no, no, no. What's going on? Excuse me? That ball was sooo in. What the heck is this? It was not out. Do I need to speak another language?"

Capriati eventually won the game, and Williams never seemed quite the same. It was the No. 8-seeded Capriati who advanced to the semifinals with a strange and unsatisfying 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory Tuesday night. In the match's final, frenetic game, the No. 3-seeded Williams was clearly wronged by at least three line calls -- and Alves failed to overrule any of them.

Later, the USTA acknowleged the incorrect overrule and tournament referee Brian Earley said that Alves would not officiate another match at the 2004 Open.

In her breathless on-court interview in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Capriati unwittingly offered the perfect postscript.


"It shows you how great life is -- you get second chance after chance after chance," Capriati said, presumably referring to her 17 career matches against Williams, not those dubious line calls.

Capriati went on to say she didn't see the ball in question, but that it didn't matter because Williams won the game. Uh, no, Jennifer, she didn't.


"I know my shots," Williams said in her post-match press conference. "It wasn't even near the line. I would have won that game & naturally, it would have been two-love. I'm not making excuses. Maybe I should have closed her out in the second set.

"I guess she [Alves] went temporarily insane."


Later, Williams said that she had been cheated and added, "I guess the lady didn't want me to be in the tournament anymore. I really prefer if she not umpire my courts anymore, because she's obviously anti-Serena.

"I think you've got to give credit to Jennifer. She had a good day umpire-wise. Usually she has bad days."


At one point, Williams asked for a show of hands from the assembled reporters "so I don't feel alone in this battle." She also said that two WTA employees apologized to her for the poor quality of the umpiring.

Conspiracy theorists will point to Wimbledon, where umpire Ted Watts cost older sister Venus Williams a critical point in a second-set tiebreaker in a second-round loss to Karolina Sprem. Watts was removed from his post after the match in an acknowledgement of his error by the All England Club.


"At first I thought it was another Wimbledon conspiracy," Williams said. "If you look at it that way, it does seem like a coincidence, right?

None of this, of course, was Capriati's fault.


"That's what happens in tennis matches," she said. "That's the way it goes. I think I had some bad calls also. If you look back on the tape, I'm sure I was robbed a couple times on some baseline shots. I lost my service game on the next game, so it was completely even after that."


Truth be told, Williams probably would have fared better if she hadn't unleashed 57 unforced errors -- an amazing number even for her.


"I think I played like an idiot," Williams said. "I pretty much killed myself out there."


Although Capriati ended an eight-match losing streak to Williams, winning back-to-back matches in Rome and Paris, it was hard to know how much of it was Capriati's mastery and how much could be attributed to Williams' tender knee that sent her to the sidelines for eight months. When Capriati was destroyed by Williams 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, the question seemed to be answered. It took all of 45 minutes and was the most one-sided match in their 16 meetings.


This time around, the last thing Capriati wanted to do was fall in a quick hole. Of course, that's exactly what happened. Trying perhaps too hard, Williams broke her in the second game and played better in the handful of big points that followed in the first set. Sometimes the angles were ludicrous. The final point of the frame was typical; Williams scrambled to run down a backhand and Capriati, closing at net, pulled a swinging forehand wide.


And then, just when it looked like another surgical demonstration by Williams, she took her eye off the ball in the second set. Two tentative shots gave Capriati a break in the first game and a serious shot of confidence. The crowd at Ashe, hoping for a three-set match, got behind Capriati. The break held up through most of the set, until some nervous moments when Capriati was trying to close the deal. Leading 5-4, Capriati hit a wobbly second serve a foot below the tape for her first double-fault of the match. But an unforced backhand into the net by Williams gave her the second set -- and a second chance.


That led to the fiasco that was the third set. Capriati broke Williams in the third game and that advantage held up the rest of the way. In the ultimate game, Williams fought off two match points despite the three calls that went against her. But her last, laconic backhand on the third match point dropped into the net and it was over. "You know, I was totally gone by then," Williams said. "I began to think 'OK, well, I'm not going to go for the lines. I'm not going to go for my shots because maybe' -- I just thought maybe they would call it out.

"So I started to play a little more safe."

Capriati advanced to Thursday's semifinal match against No. 6 seed Elena Dementieva, who earlier defeated Amelie Mauresmo, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1). Williams, who said she ignored the advice of three doctors to play here, is going home to Florida feeling good about herself. "I'm comforted by the fact that I probably shouldn't have been here anyway," Williams said. "I have a lot to look forward next year because I'll be much more healthier than I am right now.

"And that's the only thing keeping me from being really upset."


Greg Garber is a senior editor for ESPN.com.

[Chiwas]

Absolutely.

[rakesh.s]

Originally posted by: u2sarajevo
How would knocking out the Williams sisters increase ratings? The sisters, and Maria Sharpova, are the only reasons I would watch. I have no interest in the Womens side anymore.

the same reason everyone watched the nba finals this year

[Rod1975]

The bottom line is, a tennis match is'nt over until it's over. So unless the blatantly bad call was on match point, it's not as big a deal as it's being made out to be.

[StvNash13]

There are different types of calls. That call was critical, because if the umpire is going to call out the ball that wasn't even ON the line (it was about an inch inside), then a truly questionable call will probably be called against Serena too. With that in mind, I 100% believe that Serena got tentative and that's not her game. Besides, 3 wrong calls in the last game is absolutely ridiculous. And Capriati better not win this tournament. I hated her before the match, I sure as hell hate her now.

[Murphy3]

Oh well, I wish for nothing but failure as far as tennis goes for Serena and Venus. So, go Capriati. You look like a man, but at least you're not annoying.

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Oh well, I wish for nothing but failure as far as tennis goes for Serena and Venus. So, go Capriati. You look like a man, but at least you're not annoying.

Why?

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: Rod1975
The bottom line is, a tennis match is'nt over until it's over. So unless the blatantly bad call was on match point, it's not as big a deal as it's being made out to be.

Rod,

Have you every played tennis??? If so, have you ever played competitively??? If so, have you ever played singles competitively??? I did for a little while, and I know how hard it is mentally when things arent going your way!!! Unless you are playing doubles, tennis is not a team sport... You're out there on your own, and you only have yourself to question/blame when you play poor... Now, if you have all of the experience I talked about above, then you should not be questioning this like you have... If you don't have the experience above, well, then I don't even care about your opinion because it is without proper knowledge and understanding of the sport... Lets just say it is the former, and move on...

When you are facing talent that is as good as you, you need EVERY SINGLE POINT... When a CRUCIAL point is obviously yours, and some guy sitting on a podium says otherwise, you are affected in more ways than one... First, you lose the point, which again, was CRUCIAL... Then you get angry, (and if you know ANYTHING about tennis, you would understand that anger and tennis do not mix very well... Then you start the mental thing which I wont even try to get into, (how the hell do I know what was going through her mind as it could have been anything from: The umps are out to get me, how can I win this match to Ok, calm down, don't press, try to get this match back under control)...

The fact of the matter is that her psyche was affected, and she played less confident than she would have had she been awarded that point... Now, factor in the fact that this happened multiple times in the third set, (bad calls that is), of a GRAND SLAM tournament and you might just start to understand the kind of pressure/frustration that this woman was facing... I have obviously not been in that exact same situation, and I don't know exactly what she was going through; however, I have been on the wrong side of a bad call from time to time, and I know how that can affect someome...

My point is that you can't act like the occurence of a bad call has no affect on the match due to the fact that it didnt happen on the final point... That is simply ridiculous!!!

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Oh well, I wish for nothing but failure as far as tennis goes for Serena and Venus. So, go Capriati. You look like a man, but at least you're not annoying.

This is an unfortunate comment...

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: FilthyFinMavs

Why?

Because they're my two least favorite female tennis players. Their outfits are a disgrace to the game. I believe that they've intentionally thrown matches against each other. They are a disgrace to the sport.

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Male23Dan

This is an unfortunate comment...

Why? Most of us here wish failure on the Lakers. I'm sure most of us would be thrilled if they went 10-72. Why can the same not apply to tennis?

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: Murphy3

Why? Most of us here wish failure on the Lakers. I'm sure most of us would be thrilled if they went 10-72. Why can the same not apply to tennis?

The same way Laker fans can call you a dumbass for wishing failure on their team, I can stand up for tennis players that I am a fan of... Your comment is unfortunate because of your lack of actual knowledge that is forming your opinion... Beliefs like: "I think they threw games that they played against each other" assist in helping you type your unfortunate comment above! Frankly, your lack of respect for these women is partially based on pure ignorance regarding their matches, (notice I say PARTIALLY, because your comment about their clothing is understandable)...

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: Murphy3

Because they're my two least favorite female tennis players. Their outfits are a disgrace to the game. I believe that they've intentionally thrown matches against each other. They are a disgrace to the sport.

Your first sentence I can live with but because they wear outfits designed by reebok and nike they are a disgrace? Do you have any proof of them throwing matches against each other? Were you not the person who just said, "It irritates the hell out of me to see someone calling a sporting event 'fixed' or to throw out the race card. "?

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: FilthyFinMavs

Your first sentence I can live with but because they wear outfits designed by reebok and nike they are a disgrace? Do you have any proof of them throwing matches against each other? Were you not the person who just said, "It irritates the hell out of me to see someone calling a sporting event 'fixed' or to throw out the race card. "?

FFM,

I must agree with Murph here... The outfits they wear on the court, (mainly Serena), looks like something you would see on the set of Booty and the Beast!!! I mean my god, one ass cheek is larger than most people's waist, and she tries to fit it into size 1 pants!!! It actually looks like a whole separate person is growing horizontally from Serena's backside!!!

[Male30Dan]

Need I say more???

[Murphy3]

FFM, there is an exception when it comes to trash. Serena and Venus get the trash card. That card allows for one to accuse them of fixing a match because they are trashy, and they don't know any better.

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: Male23Dan

FFM,

I must agree with Murph here... The outfits they wear on the court, (mainly Serena), looks like something you would see on the set of Booty and the Beast!!! I mean my god, one ass cheek is larger than most people's waist, and she tries to fit it into size 1 pants!!! It actually looks like a whole separate person is growing horizontally from Serena's backside!!!

I don't disagree there. But what I don't agree with is that the outfits they wear are a disgrace to the sport of tennis. I think that's a bit harsh.

[FilthyFinMavs]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
FFM, there is an exception when it comes to trash. Serena and Venus get the trash card. That card allows for one to accuse them of fixing a match because they are trashy, and they don't know any better.

[img]i/expressions/anim_laugh.gif[/img] Ok.

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
FFM, there is an exception when it comes to trash. Serena and Venus get the trash card. That card allows for one to accuse them of fixing a match because they are trashy, and they don't know any better.

Why are they trash Murph??? Its one thing to dislike the way they dress... Its another thing all together to call them TRASH... What, besides their crazy dad and their clothing, do you have against these girls...

They are the best in the world at what they do, and they know it... If you hate that cockiness, then you likely weren't/aren't fans of MJ, Ali, Ray Lewis, etc.., because they sure had those same traits...

[Murphy3]

Venus Williams has primate jaw syndrome (not unlike Patrick Ewing and the girl from Good Will Hunting). Having primate jaw is reason enough to call someone trashy...plus, they dress like trash so that's more than enough reason.

[FilthyFinMavs]

I really don't get the complaint of the clothes. They're all made by Puma, Reebok or Nike. It's not like they are making their own outfits to play in.

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Venus Williams has primate jaw syndrome (not unlike Patrick Ewing and the girl from Good Will Hunting). Having primate jaw is reason enough to call someone trashy...plus, they dress like trash so that's more than enough reason.

Is Kerry trashy?

[Murphy3]

Kerry has yacht face. I'm not sure whether or not that makes him trashy. I've never seen anyone with yacht face classified as trashy solely because of their yacht.

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Venus Williams has primate jaw syndrome (not unlike Patrick Ewing and the girl from Good Will Hunting). Having primate jaw is reason enough to call someone trashy...plus, they dress like trash so that's more than enough reason.

Thanks for the laugh, (and by the way - Minnie Driver is a beautiful woman with a great accent)!!!

[Male30Dan]

Link!

Umpire in Serena match done for tournament
Story Tools: Print Email
Ben Walker / Associated Press
Posted: 4 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) - Jennifer Capriati bounced the ball once, twice, three times. Ready to serve for the match, she kept bouncing it with her racket and hand, more than 30 times in all.

She'd let her chance slip away last September on the same court in the U.S. Open, and was determined not to let it happen again Tuesday night.
At the other end, Serena Williams was still thinking about the point that was taken away by a chair umpire's mistaken call.

"I'm very angry and bitter right now. I felt cheated. Shall I go on? I just feel robbed," she said, managing to laugh.

Williams came up on the wrong end when Mariana Alves overruled the line judge in the opening game of the third set - it was an obvious call, the ball landed an inch or so inside the line. Capriati went on to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and moved on to the semifinals.

Alves will not advance.

"Regrettably, the replay on television showed that an incorrect overrule was made," tournament referee Brian Earley said.

"A mistake was made. Ms. Alves is not scheduled to officiate another match during the 2004 U.S. Open."

No tennis was played Thursday as of 2:30 p.m., because of steady rain. The first stretch of bad weather during this year's tournament was expected to continue into the evening. That raised the possibility of a total washout, including the much-anticipated quarterfinal between Andre Agassi and Roger Federer, and Lindsay Davenport's quarterfinal against Shinobu Asagoe.

All of the day's scheduled junior matches were moved to an indoor facility in Port Chester, N.Y.

"We're going to have off-and-on showers," tournament director Jim Curley said. "It's going to be hit and miss, but we're hopeful were going to get some play in today."

He said that Alves - seated on the opposite side of the court from where Williams' ball landed - had been under consideration to officiate another match at the Open, but now won't work again this week. Too late to help Williams.

"I'd prefer she not umpire at my court anymore," Williams said. "She's obviously anti-Serena."

The eighth-seeded Capriati will next play No. 6 Elena Dementieva, who defeated No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

The men's side did not produce nearly so much drama.

Defending champion Andy Roddick flattened No. 18 Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals. Roddick moved on to meet No. 28 Joachim Johansson, who beat Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Also, 2001 Open champion Lleyton Hewitt beat Karol Beck 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 for his 14th consecutive win, and Tommy Haas defeated Tomas Berdych 7-6 (6), 6-1, 7-5.

Only last week, Capriati called for tennis to try some sort of instant replay.

"I don't need to see the replay," Williams said. "I know my shots. Not only was it in, it wasn't even near the line."

Sister Venus lost in the second round this summer at Wimbledon after Karolina Sprem was mistakenly awarded an extra point in the final-set tiebreaker. Venus did not contest the call, and chair umpire Ted Watts was tossed out of the tournament.

Serena made a point to say she does not argue calls. Only this time, she did - for good reason, it turned out.

"At first, I thought it was another Wimbledon conspiracy," she said.

Williams hit a backhand that landed in along the side line, but Alves took it away, and Capriati went on to win the key first game.

TV replays showed the line judge had called it correctly. But as Williams headed back to the baseline to serve, she heard Alves announce: "Advantage, Capriati."

A startled Williams looked up and asked, "What happened?" Then she said to Alves: "That's my point. That ball was in. It's my advantage."

Williams looked up at her family in the guest box, turned around and headed toward Alves.

"No, no, no, no, no," Williams said. "That was my point! What are you talking about? What's going on? Excuse me? That ball was so in. What the heck is this?"

Williams tried to illustrate her point, putting a ball on the court and pointing.

"The ball landed here. That ball was not out. Are you kidding me? I'm trying to tell you: The ball was not out. Do I need to speak another language?"

Answered Alves: "Please calm down."

Capriati stood at the other end, shaking her head.

"I didn't even, like, look at it. It was close. I was just going to do what the umpire said," Capriati told the crowd after the match, drawing some boos and murmurs.

"Believe me, I've had things go against me many times, plenty of times. I deserve to get a call once in a while. One point, I don't think, changed the match."

Said Williams: "Honestly, I began to think, 'OK, well, I'm not going to go for the lines, I'm not going to go for my shots."

Later in the final set, replays showed at least two other incorrect calls that went against Williams.

Capriati beat Williams in the French Open and lost to her at Wimbledon. Capriati has never reached the final at Flushing Meadows - last year, she was two points from making it that far 10 times when she lost to eventual champion Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semis.

In the last set against Williams, Capriati thought about that near-miss.

"There were actually a couple times there where that went through my mind. I was like, 'I'm not going to let this happen again,"' she said. "I think it was a good thing to think about it."

Capriati has won three Grand Slam events and Williams has taken six. For the first time since 1998, Venus and Serena will finish the season without a single major title between them.

"You get second chance after chance after chance," Capriati said. "I don't care what the tennis looks like, as long as it's gutsy."

[Fidel]

So, go Capriati. You look like a man, but at least you're not annoying.

LOL, she looks like one of those "female" shotput or weightlifting athletes from Russia or Bulgaria or Hungary at the Olympics. But you are right she´s not as annoying as the Williams sisters. Still what hapened in that match was rediculous.

I hope for an all russian final.

[rakesh.s]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Venus Williams has primate jaw syndrome (not unlike Patrick Ewing and the girl from Good Will Hunting). Having primate jaw is reason enough to call someone trashy...plus, they dress like trash so that's more than enough reason.

what is up with commenting on how people look?

are you fucking fabio or something?

[sike]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
Venus Williams has primate jaw syndrome (not unlike Patrick Ewing and the girl from Good Will Hunting). Having primate jaw is reason enough to call someone trashy...plus, they dress like trash so that's more than enough reason.

funny and dumb....and yes MInnie Driver is a sheep hound of some kind if I'm not mistaken

[sike]

what is up with commenting on how people look?

are you fucking fabio or something?

I'd say more of a Brad Pitt type [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Male30Dan]

Originally posted by: sike

funny and dumb....and yes MInnie Driver is a sheep hound of some kind if I'm not mistaken

A sheep hound???

I will kill you for talking about this beautiful woman in that manner!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[sike]

Originally posted by: Male23Dan

A sheep hound???

I will kill you for talking about this beautiful woman in that manner!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

really, I kinda figured you'd go for a sheep hound [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Male30Dan]

His mother looks like a rott..........

Sorry, wrong thread!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Murphy3]

Originally posted by: Male23Dan

A sheep hound???

I will kill you for talking about this beautiful woman in that manner!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Minnie Driver is a freaking root.