Was Serena Williams a victim of racism at the 2011 US Open? Is there racism in the sport of professional tennis plus all the latest news from Major League Baseball on this weeks Phil Naessens Show.
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Paul
September 23, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Interesting (and reasonable) take on the incident. I agree that the call was reasonable here and Serena was over the edge. At the same time I think the response has been over the top to what was a juvenile Serena moment, but one that did not include screaming, vulgarity or threatening behavior.
That said, I think you failed to mention some of the more egregious biases aimed at Serena. In 2005 at the US Open, Serena was on the short end of what Tracy Austin called the worst officiating in tennis history including the chair ref overcalling her line judge to call a clearly good ball out from the other side of the court. The infamous 2009 foot fault call (also at the US Open) is also completely inexplicable given that foot faults are almost never called especially on second serves. At the 2007 Austrailian Open Serena was exposed to racist heckling for almost the entire third round match until the heckler was ejected. The reality is that Serena Williams has been on the short end of unusual officiating calls at three of the last six US Opens she attended. How does that compare to everyone else? I think the 2011 call was reasonable but can she be faulted for thinking that after 2005 and 2009 that something is amiss when yet another unusual call comes up in 2011?
Phil Naessens
September 26, 2011 at 9:34 am
Hey Paul,
Thanks for the response. I appreciate it and your thoughts.
I don’t disagree that both Williams sisters have been on the short end of the officiating stick and I also stated that there have been some things that have occurred that make me wonder but I still have a hard time believing those messed up incidents were racially motivated.
Thanks for bringing up those other incidents especially the 2005 US Open. Do you think that event was racially motivated? I don’t I just think it’s bad luck.
Thanks again for the response and more importantly for listening to the show! I do appreciate it and you!
Thanks,
Phil