The Serena Williams camp commented earlier this week that they didn't expect a lot of crowd support for her semifinal match against Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open.
Serena's big meltdown
 Photos: It was a wild night at the U.S. Open. Check out these shots of Serena Williams' loud exit at Arthur Ashe Stadium. |
After Saturday night's spectacle at Arthur Ashe Stadium, we now know why.
The top American player who — who along with sister Venus have carried the torch for American women's tennis for the past decade — lost her cool in a bizarre and staggering scene that brought about the end of her U.S. Open title defense and proved why rooting for her can occasionally be a real tough thing to do.
Already having lost the first set 6-4, Serena found herself serving to stay in the match at 5-6 in the second. At 15-30, she curled her first serve a few inches wide of the center line. Her second serve twisted in, but the line judge called a foot fault, giving the point to Clijsters. At 15-40, it meant two match point opportunities for the Belgian, whose comeback story has been at the center of this tournament since Day 1.
Williams at first appeared to be taking it in stride, putting her hands on her hips and staring with exasperation down at the line. Perhaps she was thinking about that 2004 quarterfinal against Jennifer Capriati on this same court, a match where a handful of bad line calls went against her in the final set and very likely cost her the win.
