Serena Williams Does It Again!
I am a tennis fan and player. And I love the US Open. I go every year. I am also a big fan of Serena Williams. She can dominate the court, and she sure looked like she was going to steam roll through the tournament this year. Then she met chair umpire Eva Asderaki in Sunday's final match against Samantha Stosur. Stosur was the underdog Aussie, ranked 8 in the tourney, to Serena's ranking of 28. (Yes, Sam had the higher ranking but was still the underdog going into the final).
At 30-40 in the first game of the second set, Serena hit what looked like a winner on a deep angle to Sam's backhand. But Serena screamed "C'mon" before Sam had attempted to hit the ball. (Sam got her racquet on the ball, but barely). Sam did not complain. But the chair umpire immediately gave Sam the point, which gave her the game, making it 0-1 in favor of Stosur, with Serena down one set already in a best of three final. Here's the video.
Under tennis's hindrance rule, any deliberate action such as noise, that could distract an opponent, leads to the loss of the point.
Serena clearly was just trying to get herself motivated in a grand slam final, already down a set, and looking to go up a break. But, she lost her cool. And ultimately she lost the match in two sets. She failed to keep her "eye on the ball," figuratively speaking. She failed to realize that one call does not a match make. The umpire, ( in legal speak, judge), was making a technical call from a rulebook. That's what she is paid to do.
Every day in my practice I see "bad calls" by judges (umpires), or just calls I disagree with. That's the nature of the game. I try to make it clear to my clients going in that that's what's going to happen from time to time, and we just have to deal with the bad call and move on. The pesky rule books apply to all, and are sometimes you, the player/litigant, are simply going to disagree with the ruling made by a judge/ umpire.
What's remarkable with the women's US Open final this year is that this very same thing happened two years ago. Then, Serena , the defending US Open champion, was playing Kim Clijsters in the semi final. Clijsters was ahead one set in the best out of three match, and Williams was serving at 5-6, 15-30.
At a critical point in the match, a lineswoman called a foot fault on Williams on her second serve, making the score at 15-40 and giving Clijsters match point. Williams then commenced a profanity laced tirade at the lineswoman, and appeared to threaten the lineswoman. The chair umpire stopped the match, the head of the tournament was called onto the court and ruled that Williams would incur a point penalty thereby giving Clijsters the match. The fact that Williams was given a point penalty in and of itself was not the death knell of her chances of winning the match; rather it was the timing of the point penalty, on match point, that ended her chances.
I blogged about that moment in sports two years ago. Here's what I said.
The lesson here is that once you put yourself in the arena, whether it’s center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, or in front of a jury, you subject yourself to “calls” (known at trial as “rulings”) that are sometimes unfair and sometimes flat out wrong. Judges make mistakes. Court rulings are simply part of the risk. The jury could get your case wrong, not find your testimony or that of your witnesses believable, or not award you enough compensation for your injuries; again, that is part of the risk of going to trial.
Serena Williams’ tirade is also a lesson to litigants. Testifying at a deposition or at trial is stressful. But, simply put, it is not in your best interest to lose your composure at a deposition or at trial. No matter how much we prepare you for the expected or the unexpected in advance of your deposition or trial, reliving the events which caused you injury and seeing the person who caused your pain is an emotional experience that must be anticipated and dealt with. You must put your best game face on and accept the consequences.
