Serena

[johnyandell]

I'll go with Johnny Mac. You don't call a foot fault at that point in the match. The replay, from the wrong angle, showed it may or may not have occured.

If it was a foot fault it was by a quarter inch at max. Is a rule the rule? (Assuming it really was a foot fault.) Or is there a chance that a lines person chose to interject herself into a match at the most critical time--whether consciously or not?

I saw something similar that caused Andre Agassi to be bounced from the San Jose tournament several years ago.

[uspta990770809]

Let's not get carried away & foot faults

Serena didn't get the unsportsmanlike conduct code for the foot fault. She got it for absolutely losing it. The chair had no choice but to enforce the rules. Sad that Serena is not willing to take responsibility for her mistake. It's in the same vein as never giving her opponents for playing well. She says Kim played really well, but she wasn't even playing her B game. Wonder why. No matter. She did have a bad day, but she was having a hard time facing up to it. I think she was even money if she could have gotten into the tiebreaker and odds on if she had won it. But she was down 15-30 on a second serve to Kim to go down double match point again when the foot fault was called.

Foot faults. Is it allright for your partner to hold down the net a half an inch when you serve? A quarter of an inch? But when you move forward an inch (I thought she stepped on the line), you effectively make the net a half-inch lower.

It's really a shame that the match came down to this. Not fair to Kim who was in position for a colossal victory that will forever be denigrated through no fault of her own. Not fair to the fans. Certainly not fair to the lineswoman who Serena herself said in the post match interview was probably just doing her job. And certainly not fair to Serena, but she has only herself to blame for that. If she was getting called for foot faults many times in the tournament, maybe it's because officials in lesser events are afraid to enforce the rules where the chair and ref will not back them up.

[uspta502580821]

Serena's behavior tonight,,

Hard for me to believe a tennis teaching professional, namely John Yandell, poo pooed the notion of enforcing a foot fault violation,, and sided with a rule interpretation by the
person who almost singlehandedly defeated the notion of classy and sportsmanlike behavior in tennis,, John McEnroe.
Yandell,, I could not disagree more with you on this one my friend.
Let me ask you just this one question; Does it matter if a ball is out 1/2" or 3/4" or just 1/4" ?
Glad you will not be calling any of my matches.
Serena showed disrespect for the game tonight,, and revealed some of her telling character flaws in the process.
Serena is a role model to many,, and if she keeps up this behavior she
will have the same effect McEnroe had on the game.
Some of us are old enough to know how many young tennis behaviors
were affected by his unsportsmanlike antics, and many of us remember
the efforts we made for years trying to counteract that jerk's influence on
what sportsmanlike conduct should be enforced and maintained on a tennis court.

Shea Brown, USPTA P-1.(sheabrown@uspta.com)

[johnyandell]

Still disagree with you guys.

[gsheiner]

John, if you don't think a tiny foot fault should be called on a big point , then how obvious does a foot fault have to be to be called or do you think they should never be called on "big points"?

And, of course, how does one define big points?

[johnyandell]

Think it should be an inch. But seriously if a player is foot faulting they tend to do it multiple times over the course of the match. Hard to believe that if she was foot faulting even slightly that this was the first one. In the NBA the refs let the players play more in the big games. I don't think anyone could claim Serena got some advantage on that second serve if her toe touched the line. Looked like Kim was gonna win and would have liked to see it settled with tennis.

[tcuk]

I'm with John Yandell on this one. Any linesperson must be insane to call a foot fault at such a crucial stage in the match. I know the rules are rules argument, etc., but sometimes the human judgement decision is more just. And the decision was so tight anyway!!

Unless you have a serve and volley game, where's the advantage in foot faulting anyway? It's not often I find myself feeling sorry for one of the Williams sisters, but I did feel sorry for Serena over this incident.

[tommyt]

I hope none of us are saying Serena's actions towards the lines person are justified!? We all get frustrated during the course of time but we handle it with some civility, no? We all think we are wronged but we don't mistreat another human being with such disgrace, do we? Would you like your loved one to be treated the way Serena mistreated that woman?

[tommyt]

"I swear to God I'm [expletive] going to take this [expletive] ball and shove it down your [expletive] throat, you hear that? I swear to God." Actually, I feel sorry for the lines person for being threatened, mocked and abused for enforcing a rule that she was told to enforce. Maybe lines people should be told, at certain times during a match, don't enforce the rules because we don't want to upset the player who can not control his/her emotion.
"I didn't threaten [her]. I don't remember anymore [what I said], to be honest. "I was in the moment." Sounds like a threat to me. I love the excuse, "I don't remember anymore..."
Asked if the line judge deserved an apology, Williams added: "An apology? From me? Well, how many people yell at linespeople? Players, athletes get frustrated. I don't know how many times I've seen that happen." Yelling at a lines person is wrong in itself but Serena went beyond that and if she doesn't realize that I do feel sorry for her.
How do you treat another human being in such a way. I guess if the lines person was a loved one of Serena's and was being "yelled" at in that way, Serena would be ok with that.

[tommyt]

"I'll go with Johnny Mac. You don't call a foot fault at that point in the match."
Your blaming the lines person for Serena's actions? You don't blame other people for the way you act. When my daughter was young (she's 11) she would blame others for her angry actions... she has evolved and realizes that she must take responsibility for her own actions.

[johnyandell]

It's two separate issues. The appropriateness of the call, versus Serena's reactions.

I can't say that I support what she said. But I certainly can understand why she felt that way.

You have to wonder about the personal control issues. Whether consciously or not, that linesperson made the most impactful decision of her life by a factor of 200X.

If anyone witnessed an incident with Andre in San Jose, it was similar. Andre muttered an obscenity to himself--I was sitting pretty close and didn't hear anything, but the linesperson apparently did and reported him to the umpire. That set off a chain reaction that ended with him being disqualified.

I happened to see the linesperson back stage after the match. I'm not sure after observing and listening to the tone of voice that this was just routine business. That person put a legend out of a big pro event.

[uspta502580821]

From a coach's perspective,,

This is almost unbelievable.
So Mr. Yandell,,, you think that the foot fault rule should be one inch?
Are you kidding?
Guess lines people from now on will be carrying "micro-spectra-calibrater cameras" from now on,, to make sure the foot fault is only one inch,, and not one inch and a quarter !
This call would be quite impossible to make.
Please. You would have us change the rules of tennis, or not enforce the
existing rules of tennis that have served us all so well?
And why? Please,, when you have a moment,I would like to try to follow your reasoning on this issue.
Perhaps this is just a reflection of where our society is today.
The rule of law should apply to some,, but not to everyone?

Perhaps an exception from the foot fault rule because Serena is a super star? I don't think so.
I began assisting my high school coach teaching tennis when I was 17
years old in 1968. I am now 58, and a USPTA P-1 pro.
From a coaches perspective,, I will say that this is an example of a pro player, who has made several million dollars, and who does not believe that she needs any further help in her game from a real coach.
A good, decent , and observant coach could have seen that she has been using footwork that was bringing her dangerously close to making foot faults,, and he or she could have brought attention to this.
Foot faults,, as a rule,, are generally indications of improper and inconsistent foot work during the serve, as well as incorrect beginning stances. These are things an experienced coach can see and help correct.
If these pages are meant to be of an instructional nature to the tennis playing public, I believe you have missed an opportunity to give your audience sound advice about the serve, and the game.
I mentioned this previously in a post; Tennis does not need another super star who is a role model for many young players who exhibits such
unsportsmanlike behavior on the court.
I saw firsthand the effects of McEnroe's behavior had on tennis players,, both youth and adult,, for a good ten or fifteen years.
A televised and popular tennis star like this only makes the teaching
professional's job so much more difficult.
As a real teacher,, let me ask you to reconsider your logic and opinion
in this matter.
But as a coach,, and to get your attention,, which is always the first step,, I will tell you that you are absolutely wrong on this one.
Go from there,, grow,, and learn.
That's what this game is all about.
Shea Brown.

[tommyt]

Don't the player's know what the rule is? So, should they change the rule? And if not, should we not follow the rule? When is ok to enforce the foot fault rule? When is it not ok? Btw, did not Serena slam and break her racquet in the 1st set and get a warning? Was it ok to warn her at that time?

[johnyandell]

Uh, yeah actually I was kidding about the inch, as I hope is pretty clear in the post. Look I'm not going to get wound up in histronics over this. Just my opinion that the molehill collapsed the mountain.

We can agree to disagree. I was just curious to see what the general sentiment was on this and I think it's fair to say you and I are in opposite camps.

[tommyt]

A lil story... A few years ago I double parked my car while picking up my daughter from school as I and other parents had done all year. My wife was with my daughter but she is handicapped and I didn't want her to walk much. As I was coming back to the car from picking up my daughter (and wife) a police officer was giving me a ticket. I explained to him the situation and he apologized, understanding the circumstances but the ticket was already written out and the residents of the neighborhood had been complaining about the double parked cars. I didn't go crazy because I knew I broke the law. Although I believed I could justify my wrongdoing, I was wrong. I double parked my car which is against the law.