SEE YA Serena!

Serena Willams is one of best tennis players to ever take to the court.

She has 22 Grand Slam titles (11 in singles, nine in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles,) two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles and she has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history.

But, she will never get the respect that she deserves...and last night at the US Open was a perfect example why.

Williams was taking on Kim Clijsters in the women's semi-final when she took her dispute with a line judge one step too far.

Williams was serving to stay in the match and was down 15-30. She was called for a foot fault on her second serve in the next point to go down 15-40 and took exception to the call by the line judge. She then verbally abused the judge, pointing her racquet and finger and yelling at her a la her idol John McEnroe.

Following the exchange, the line judge jogged over to the chair umpire to complain about Williams' tirade. Williams then disputed with the chair umpire and supervisor, and a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct was called -- the call awarded the next point to Clijsters, which ended the match with a 6-4, 7-5 final.

In the video at the end of this entry, you can quite clearly hear Serena threaten the judge by saying "I swear to God I will take this BLEEPING ball and shove it..."

Well, only the people in the first few rows know exactly where that ball would be shoved. Classy.

Of course, Serena plays dumb in the post match press conference questioning a reporter's comment that the judge felt threatened and she did not own up to what she did. Double classy. Or in this case, double fault.

In the end, Serena is out of the US Open because of her temper, lack of sportsmanship and all around "holier than thou" attitude towards the judge.

Whether or not the foot fault was the right call, it doesn't hide the fact that Serena's behaviour will continue to tarnish the image of one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

On the other hand, for those who can't stand Serena (and her sister Venus), seeing Serena lose that match last night in that kind of fashion was like finding a 1000 bill in your pocket...FANTASTIC!

Here's a breakdown from ESPN:



BrockTalk