Serena Williams fined $2,000 for tirade on chair umpire

A. Isaac Senior Editor

Serena outburst 297x214 Serena Williams fined $2,000 for tirade on chair umpire

Serena Williams has been fined $2,000 for her outburst on chair umpire Eva Asderaki during Sunday’s final. Here’s the statement from U.S. Open officials.

Via SI’s Richard Deitsch:

“US Open Tournament Referee Brian Earley has fined Serena Williams $2,000 following the code violation issued for verbal abuse during the women’s singles final. This fine is consistent with similar offenses at Grand Slam events. As with all fines at the US Open,the monies levied are provided to the Grand Slam Development Fund which develops tennis programs around the world.

After independently reviewing the incident which served as the basis for the code violation, and taking into account the level of fine imposed by the US Open referee, the Grand Slam Committee Director has determined that Ms. Williams’ conduct, while
verbally abusive, does not rise to the level of a major offense under the Grand Slam Code of Conduct.”

Most analysts agree that it should have been called a “let”. And although what Serena did was in bad form, it didn’t seem intentional, even to the casual observer. Perhaps you could say she was overzealous, but nonetheless, she didn’t do it to gain an advantage. In the end, it didn’t affect the match as Stosur cruised in two sets. Judging from the fine itself, it won’t affect Serena’s pocketbooks either.

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