Unsportsmanlike Conduct
This article reports on the punishment for tennis’ number one woman, Serena Williams. Williams was fined $175,000 and put on 2 years of probation for her unsportsmanlike and unprofessional behavior at the U.S Open. In a statement the Grand Slam Committee said, “On 9 November 2009, the Grand Slam Committee administrator determined Serena Williams had committed the grand slam major offence of aggravated behavior for her misconduct at the 2009 U.S. Open.” This punishment definitely fits the crime here, as described in the article, Williams’s behavior was completely unprofessional and inappropriate. Behavior such as hers in response to a call by an official which she didn’t agree with is never accepted in any other sport as it shouldn’t be. In the NCAA, a response such as hers with such disrespect to an official could get an athlete kicked off the team. Officials are there to keep the game fair and should there for be respected by both athletes and coaches. Williams is also being fined for another incident of her rage where she smashed her racquet onto the ground after being given an automatic point penalty. The article points out that these fines are the highest in tennis history (since records began in 1990) to be given to a female player. Williams apologized for her behavior on the day of the incident and admitted that she “handled the situation poorly” but also did not directly apologize to the judge. As such a famous professional athlete in such widely televised events, Williams should be thoroughly embarrassed for her reactions, but it doesn’t seem like she feels all that bad. This article then goes on to compare Williams to Jeff Tarango who was suspended from Wimbledon 1996 after walking off the court and accusing the umpire of being corrupt. These acts of disrespect are treated much more seriously in tennis than are those of other athletes such as football and baseball players who seem to disagree with rulings by umpires on a more frequent basis. Though some have been kicked out of the game this is rare and not looked on as harshly as this incident has.
