Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Despite her incredible success, she has had her fair share of controversies throughout her incredible career. In 2009, during the US Open, Kim Clijsters, a wildcard participant from Belgium, was Serena’s opponent. The American was considered one of the favorites to make the final. The Belgian woman, on the other hand, had other plans. She beat Serena in straight sets to advance to the finals.
What was the Serena Williams controversy at the 2009 US Open?
In the US Open 2009 semifinal against Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams was called for a foot fault with just two points remaining. At 15-30, 5-6 in the second set of a match, she was losing to Kim Clijsters, Williams was called for a foot fault on a second serve.
How did the calls affect Serena?
Two match points were awarded to Clijsters by the call, as a result, Serena then approached the judge and got angry at her. For which, she did apologize to the lines judge afterward.
Following that incident, Williams became much more serious about tennis.
She once talked about the US Open 2009 incident, when she lost the semifinal on a penalty. She said “Not much makes me angry. I’m always smiling.“
Williams had more to add.
Williams further added, “But foot faults piss me off because I never foot fault. I’ve never foot faulted before and never have after. Never.“