All Good Things Come To An End - US OPEN 09

[Mrs. Fabregas]

It's rain-free in NY now , tennis finally went on

After a very very very very poor tie break and 3rd set of Gonzo, Rafa is trough to the semi's! Hope the stomach muscle injury healed properly in his "rain day off" so he'll be able to reach the final .... will we get a Roger-Rafa final again

Am very looking forward to Kim vs Serena : GO KIMMIE!!!!!!
(little bit patrioticish ... belgium is so close, LOL)

[SAFINNO1]

Well Done Rafa!

Think its been an good comeback for Mr Nadal and i want a Rafa-Roger final just as it was in OZ.
Could you imagine Rafa by Monday have won all slams or Roger could go into Australia with the possibility of holding all slams.
But hold on Ily im sure Nole and Del Pony will have something to say!

Come on Kimmy and Wozzy

[jenhatter06]

VERY awkward for Serena & Kim ...

Kim wins first set. Serena gets mad, cracks racket. Code violation. Second set: 15-30, Serena foot faults. 15-40. Serena flips OUT. Curses at and threatens to hurt lineswoman. Lineswoman reports to chair. Tourney director comes out. Point penalty for unsportmanslike conduct = match for Kim.

Kim was on her way to winning anyway, playing much better. But how is supposed to feel with it ending like that? (and it's more proof as to why I've never liked Serena, but that's aside ...)

Shame.

Kim v Wozniacki - Sunday night.

Before that - in the afternoon
Rafa v del Potro
Federer v Djokovic

(Fed and Novak have been chillin' since Wednesday (right?) - and they get to play 2nd!?!?)

[Annie]

This tournament is turning into one bizzarre grand slam LOL Weather permitting it might finish this year ;D Go Kim!

[davis]

Sept 13, 2009 6:26:55 GMT 3 jenhatter06 said:

Serena foot faults. 15-40. Serena flips OUT.

Ah, those foot faults... LMAO! ;D ;D ;D But her flipping out like that was indeed unacceptable. It makes me wonder - can you challenge a foot fault? Couldn't she have just looked at it on the screen? No foot prints visible?

Sept 13, 2009 6:26:55 GMT 3 jenhatter06 said:

Fed and Novak have been chillin' since Wednesday - and they get to play 2nd!?!?

Well, in regards to the final, this is a good choice for Mr. Nadal, should he beat Delpo today (which I hope he'll do). And anyways, they actually had to chill, there was no way they could practice, so that's not necessarily an advantage. Plus, it might rain again... and then being up first is better.

[davis]

Saturday Night Fever: A Tense Scene on Ashe

By Tom Perrotta

Clijsters' victory was marred by a controversial foot fault call -- and subsequent tirade -- that cost Serena the match.
Let's start with something every tennis player can agree on: Foot faults are pathetic calls.

The point of the foot fault rule, of course, is to prevent the server from gaining an unfair advantage by striking the ball closer to the net. For recreational players, it can be an important rule, but it's difficult to enforce since there are no line judges. In the pro game, the foot fault is a harmless sin. When pros foot fault, they do it by fractions of inches, distances so small that no unfair advantage is gained. And they do it by accident. No pro polishes a service motion over two dozen years and then decides, in a moment of duress, "I'm going to sneak in for this ace and hope no one catches me!"

Marat Safin put it best at last year's U.S. Open, when a foot fault sent him into a tizzy. [It] doesn't help me to serve better," Safin said. "It's stupid rules that somebody made in, I don't know, 1850, and now they give me the problems with these things."

Safin's foot fault came in the fourth set of a first-round loss, and by now few people remember it. But when the last word on tennis is written, the Serena Fault is going to be as famous as the Serena Slam, if not more so. It came at 15-30 in the second set of last night's semifinal against Kim Clijsters. Williams was in trouble. Her serve, usually her best weapon, had traveled long and wide all evening long, and Clijsters—who moves better than any mom on earth—was closing in on the biggest upset of her comeback. Williams missed her first serve badly. And then the call: "Foot fault!" Which meant double fault. Which meant match point.

Williams showed little emotion at first. She turned to her right, called for a ball—and then she lost it.

"I swear to God, I'll [expletive] take this ball and shove it down your [expletive] throat, do you hear me?" she said as she walked toward the lineswoman who had made the call. She shook her racquet and continued her tirade, but the rest of her words were more difficult to hear, save a few profanities. Williams had already received a warning, for cracking her racquet at the end of the first set. Once Brian Earley, the tournament referee, stepped onto the court, it was clear Williams wasn't going to escape without a point penalty. On match point. Game over.

Williams had every right to be angry, because this was an awful, foolish, atrocious, silly call. Clijsters had played so well, so intelligently, and she didn't need any help earning a match point. The small crowd assembled inside Arthur Ashe Stadium endured a day of rain, as did fans watching on television at home. Lots of money—and a lot more pride—was on the line, and as replays showed, this was hardly an egregious foot fault, if it was even a foot fault at all. There's a difference between being a conscientious official and being officious, and this lineswoman certainly crossed that line. She inserted herself into a match that should have been decided—frankly, that was moments away from being decided—by two first-rate athletes. People pay to see athletes, not a lineswoman.

When Williams and the officials convened at the net, there was a suggestion that Williams had said she would kill the lineswoman. Williams looked stunned by the accusation and those words were not audible in replays I watched. Was she angry? You bet. Was she threatening? That's a loaded word, and one that needs to be used carefully. Does anyone really believe that Williams would actually shove a ball down a lineswoman's throat? I don't. I can understand how the woman was a bit nervous at the time, and certainly embarrassed. But threatened? Sorry, I can't see it. This was still a tennis match, not a heavyweight fight. Not long after the incident, Williams was giggling with her sister outside the women's locker room, and she was composed and funny in her press conference.

"I've never been in a fight in my whole life, so I don't know why she would have felt threatened," Williams said. She added: "I didn't think I would get a point penalty. I didn't think about it."

Of course, other players have said worse, or at least equally nasty, words and not received even a warning. Just yesterday afternoon we were treated, for what must be the millionth time, to Jimmy Connors versus Aaron Krickstein in 1991. These were among Connors' choice words for umpire David Littlefield on that day. "Kiss me before you do that to me." "You're a bum." "You're an abortion." Connors got away with it. By that standard, one might reasonably conclude, Williams was robbed.

But there's a difference in this case. Connors attacked a chair umpire, who can fend for himself, issue warnings, take away points as he sees fit, and even default a player. Williams abused the lineswoman, who can't do anything but tell the chair umpire what was said to her. As a chair umpire, you have to protect your employees from verbal assaults. Chair umpires are responsible for the well being of those who work for them, and so the threshold for a warning is lower. Without a doubt, this penalty was warranted.

Luckily, none of this changed the outcome of the match. Clijsters was going to win; she had outplayed Williams all night. Did it sour the ending? Sure, but that won't matter one bit if Clijsters wins the title tonight, as she should.

And besides, something good is bound to come of this. Remember the last time Williams was in the middle of a U.S. Open controversy? That one involved an ill-advised overrule by a chair umpire against Jennifer Capriati in 2004. So bad was the call that Hawk-Eye, the instant replay system, became a permanent part of the Open, and then the rest of the sport. Maybe this time, tennis officials will update the foot fault rule. Or at the very least, begin to use Hawk-Eye for that, too.

[avalon]

Serena, such language . A bit of a hollow win for Kim [although a win is a win ]. Still on track for my favourites, Kim and Rafa to win

[SAFINNO1]

All i can say is WOW what a way for the match to finish - shame it took the gloss of Kims remarkable story and performance in Flushin Meadows - Wozniacki wont be able to stop her - but if she does would be a whole other story.

I felt sorry too for Louise Engzell the umpire - she is really lovely and i dont think she wouldve wanted to make that decision but she has too look after her team.

I agree too Rafa up first - as of the 2 semi finals this is most likely to go to 5 but if its like his Australian Open Semi then i think he can forget beating Roger in the final! Yes that does mean im ruling Novak out completely!

[jenhatter06]

Ab injury definitely hindered Rafa today - del Potro into 1st major final with a 62 62 62 win. Bummer for Rafa - hope it clears up soon.


Another foot fault comment - when they get so bent out of shape over a FF call, how hard would it be to move your foot a half an inch back?

[Mrs. Fabregas]

Serena yesterday ..... But indeed, Kimmie would have won anyway *woot* ... Think it's really fabulous that she, as the "defending" 2005 champion, is now in the final, on a wildcard .... Go get that 2nd slam, Kim! Wonderful way to start off your comeback ;D

for Rafa ... the poor guy and his abdomen injury ... he just didn't stand a change against Del Pony ..... it would have been so nice to have a roger-rafa final again

I just hope that Roger will do his job and get in that final
*go roger, go roger, go roger, go roger*

Off to get to bed for a few hours now, with the alarm set on 3am (please don't let it rain anymore!) for the ladies final.... probably not the best idea for me to do that, with a very very important D-day for me tomorrow , but i just HAVE TO SEE IT!

On the other hand, if it's indeed gonna rain now, like there's no tomorrow, and it'll keep raining more and more and more, TGFR has to "stay open" for posting, and then i might make the 1500 posts mark

Nah, j/k ..... it has been wonderful to be a part of this amazing site, have thouroughly enjoyed it to the fullest, have met wonderful people, in person and through mail, and it has enlightened my life!!!!! to all!

[maryb]

Congrats to Del Pony, solid play ... and special thanks to Big Serena for making my USO viewing this year. LMAO. My response as the line judge would have been along the lines of 'If you even try it, I'll shove this racquet up your ...' LMAO. Good job I'm not an official.

Go for it Kim.

Better get downstairs now to check on Maestro ...

FG

[sabz]

KIMI AND ROGER TO WIN!!!

[momo]

Roger and Del Potro final. I think I know the outcome already. Too bad, was rooting for Djokovic. Another semifinal loss, yet again! Currently airing Wozniacki and Clijsters. Kim on the attack, 5-7 2-5 2nd set still not finished. Go KIMIMIMI!

DAVAI MARAT!! Ahahaha

[momo]

Kim is the winner, 5-7 3-6! Oh she owns the US Open. I feel so bad for Dinara...

[jenhatter06]

What does it say about the women's game when a player comes back after 2 years - as a WC, in her 3rd tourney back - and beats them all?

Who cares? GO KIM GO KIM!!!

And little Jada is such a cutie!