Black Tennis Pros

It comes as no surprise that Serena Williams was fined a record $82,500 and placed on a two year “probationary period” for her September 2009 U.S. Open outburst wherein she yelled some choice words at a lineswoman after a foot-fault call that resulted in her semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters.

Ever since the Williams’ sisters hit the pros, they have been both loved and hated. Openly loved and adored by the people they represent and secretly and sometimes not-so-secretly hated by those, who up until the Williams’ came along, dominated the sport of tennis. But yet and still, the Williams’ sisters endured and persevered even with sports commentators crediting their triumphs and victories to their “strength” and “athleticism” while their counterparts won because they “played smart” and were “strategic.”

Add to that, Venus and Serena Williams’ contributions to tennis have increased the earnings for all women on the pro circuit, but they are still loathed by the same women who should be thanking them for the money they now earn when they lose to them.

Serena herself once blogged about an incident at the German Open where she lost to Dinara Safina. She wrote that she could hear the entire players lounge “all happy and joyous” because she finally lost.

"It was funny when I lost I was in the locker room and I could hear the entire players lounge really loud like really happy and joyous. Like down goes the champ! Someone beat her!!! It was like a big hoopla…."

To date, the previous highest fine for a Grand Slam offense was nearly $48,000 in 1995 when Jeff Tarango was docked for at Wimbledon while playing Alexander Mronz. Tarango was upset when a serve he thought was an ace was called out. When the crowd heckled him and he told them to shut up, the umpire, Bruno Rebeuh, issued a code violation. Tarango yelled at Rebeuh and then stormed off, defaulting the match, after announcing: ‘You are the most corrupt official. I’m not playing any more.’ As the umpire Rebeuh made his way back to the changing room, he encountered Benedicte, Tarango’s wife, who slapped him. Later she defended her action and said: ‘If Jeff had done it, he would have been put out of tennis.’

Let me be clear. This is not about the money. Please. $82,500 is chump change for Serena Williams who raked in $350,000 just for reaching the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals, $6.5 million in earnings this year alone, and $28 million in total career prize money. Serena Williams is an 11-time Grand Slam singles champion who ended the 2009 season at No. 1 in the Women’s Tennis Association’s rankings. No—this s about making sure that Serena Williams doesn’t continue to dominate women’s tennis.

In other words, if you can’t beat her’, fine her’, but more importantly, put her on probation and set her up to fail.

Serena now faces a “probationary period” at tennis’ four major championships in 2010 and 2011. If another offense occurs at a Grand Slam Tournament during that time, the fine increases to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open. And there wherein lies the conspiracy.

I think the powers that be are tired of watching the same two Black girls kick ass year in and year out on the tennis court. And since there’s no sign of either Williams sister retiring anytime soon, being photographed inhaling from a marijuana pipe, going to prison after being under Federal investigation for dog fighting, admitting that she took performance-enhancing drugs, or doing a Sammy Sosa and showing up on the court as white woman, the International Federation of Tennis’ ruling is the next best thing.

Everyone is aware that Serena is highly emotional on the court.

So with Serena on a “probationary period,” all it’s going to take is one “bad call” meant to provoke her and strike a nerve so that she violates the conditions of her probation, thus getting barred from the next U.S. Open.

Even with Venus Williams still playing tennis, if Serena were barred from the next U.S. Open, a dramatic shift in women’s tennis would occur that would result in a cataclysmic scenario wherein the odds would be greater that someone other than a Williams would take home the coveted Grand Slam title. And even though there’s no guarantee of the outcome in such a scenario—it does present an opportunity for players who—with Serena competing—wouldn’t ordinarily have a chance at advancing in the Grand Slam tournament.

But for that to actually come to fruition, the World’s No. 1 ranked female tennis player would have to be somehow disqualified—by say another “major offense” during her “probationary period.”

Thank FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and COINTELPRO, former LAPD Detective Mark Furhman, the Republican National Committee and the 2004 Presidential Election, as the reason that I don’t put anything past anyone.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

The $82,500 fine is just a distraction from the bigger picture as it relates to Serena and women’s tennis over the next two years. A picture that some would rather paint without her in it.

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Let the truth be spoken up front; American sisters Venus and Serena Williams have conducted themselves over the lifespan of their tennis careers in an exemplary manner and there are others who could learn a lot from them. That said, sure, Serena has always been the highly emotional fiery player that causes the fans to raise the roof in the stadiums - all within the confines of the sport and nothing contrary to it.

Serena Williams' choice to lash out at the linesperson in the manner that she did at the 2009 U.S. Open was without question an aberration in the behavior that she typically displays during matches. Poor judgement in the heat of the match? Unquestionably. A continuance of longstanding bad behavior? Absolutely not!

On its own merit, the decision of the International Tennis Federation to fine American Serena Williams a record $82,500 for the incident is certainly not as extreme as it could have been and let's face it, the payout won't even make a slight dent in her stash.

The funky portion of this decision comes with the probation and and the potential for Serena to be suspended if she has another "major offense" at any Grand Slam in the next two years. WHAT A LOAD OF BULL!!

Holding Serena to a standard FAR different than other players, male or female, is just beyond the pale. If the ITF wants to set a new standard and then hold all players feet to the fire, fine; but to take an isolated incident and now set Serena up as the gold standard in bad behavior and place punitive sanctions on her that establish new lows in parity is absolutely ridiculous.

Serena has been placed on a probation over the four major championships that occur in 2010-1011. If she has another "major offense" at a Grand Slam tournament in that time, the $82,500 fine would increase to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open.

"But if she does not have another offense in the next two years, the suspension is lifted," says Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock. Oh how sweet.

He stated that "Williams violated the "major offense" rule for "aggravated behavior." The Grand Slam committee - with one representative from each of the sport's four major championships - approved his decision Saturday.

Babcock said a "major offense" under Grand Slam rules is "any conduct that is determined to be the 'major offense' of 'aggravated behavior' or 'conduct detrimental to the game.'" There is no specific definition of what sort of actions constitute a "major offense."

He said the highest possible fine that Williams could face - $175,000, if she violates her Grand Slam probation - was chosen because it is the difference in winnings between reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals at the U.S. Open. The $10,000 Williams already was docked by the USTA will be counted toward that total; that's why she is paying half of $165,000 now.

Call it what you will, view it in your own light and subject this decision to your own scrutiny - there's one thing that's for certain, this decision would take on a totally different color if this were a white male player. The history of the game bares all of the truth of that statement.

What's good for one should be good for all - this sucks...

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NEW YORK -- The U.S. Open has fined Serena Williams $10,000 for her tirade directed at a line judge at the end of a semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters.

It's the maximum on-site fine a Grand Slam tennis tournament can issue for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The U.S. Open said Sunday the Grand Slam Committee Administrator has opened an investigation to determine whether Williams' behavior should be considered a "major offense," which can lead to additional penalties.

Williams also is being docked $500 for racket abuse in what became a 6-4, 7-5 loss Saturday night.

"Serena Williams' conduct last night was inappropriate and unprofessional," WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster said in a statement. "No matter what the circumstances, no player should be allowed to engage in such behavior without suffering consequences. I have spoken with the USTA about this matter and I agree with the action they have taken."

Williams earned $350,000 in prize money for reaching the singles semifinals. She also is scheduled to play in the women's doubles final Monday with her sister Venus.

Williams issued a statement on Sunday night.

"Last night everyone could truly see the passion I have for my job," it read. "Now that I have had time to gain my composure, I can see that while I don't agree with the unfair line call, in the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the situation poorly. I would like to thank my fans and supporters for understanding that I am human and I look forward to continuing the journey, both professionally and personally, with you all as I move forward and grow from this experience."

Allaster had some positive words for Williams as well.

"Serena is a great player who has done so much for our sport and I am certain she will continue to be a role model to millions of young women who want to play the game and excel as Serena has done," her statement said. "As a role model, it's important for a leader like Serena to step forward and recognize her behavior last night was unacceptable, and I believe that her statement earlier today is an acknowledgement of her responsibility to her fans."

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