Cheat To Win

By all means twitter, please suggest users similar to Taco Bell.

Years from now, if the Williams sisters appear to have changed tennis at all, I am almost sure that Serena will seem to have been more central to that change than Venus.⁸ That racist, anti-racist Tony Hoagland poem from 2003 ends after “the black girl” has beaten her opponent, “then kicked her ass good / then thumped her once more for good measure,” as the speaker ambiguously mourns the end of the 20th century. I love that Serena is still out there kicking the 20th century’s ass — just incidentally, not even meaning to do it, not making a point of it, just kicking its ass over and over again.

I actually got into an argument about this last year when Serena was vivisected for “blowing up” at the US Open but everyone conveniently overlooked Mardy Fish’s behavior during his bout with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.  I argued then that a lot of the negative attention directed at Serena is coded in racist and sexist beliefs, and I think this article addresses that perfectly.

The divide will only continue over this. She is a victim. She is a bully.

Maybe there is some truth to both views. Emotions are never simple.

This is a great article that helps to provide more detail and context for Serena’s outburst yesterday while not necessarily defending her.  I agree with this nuanced, “shades of grey” outlook on the episode.

It’s been pointed out that this clip, taken from the 2009 Doha Championship in Qatar, would have been played under the International Tennis Federation (ITF) rules, and that last night’s ruling—made by the same chair umpire, Eva Asderakia—was in accordance with the Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) guidelines. We presume that the two organizations treat these situations differently. Still, it’s fascinating to see how the situation was treated then, as it might help us better understand Williams’s confusion and frustration with the call: Asderakia immediately called a hindrance, and then allowed for a replay of the same point, and everyone laughed good-naturedly like they were old buddies who would now share an inside joke.

Last night, Aserakia [sic] called the hindrance on what appeared to be a forehand winner for Williams, and which would have set the score at deuce in the first game of the second set—but there was no replay, and there were no LOLs. Sam Stosur was given the point, the game, and she’d go on to take the match. Williams, meanwhile, may face a fine or suspension for calling Aserakia a “hater.”

Again, I want to simply bring up the point here that Serena was legitimately confused about why she had been called the fault.  This post on Deadspin helps to clarify why it was that she reacted so obstinately.

I don’t find her reaction to be appropriate, but I think the righteous indignation in the press and pop culture (I saw one commenter call her a “classless thug”) has certainly been related to her gender and, to a certain extent, her race.

Maybe it’s just me, but I honestly don’t understand why everyone is freaking out about Serena Williams when Mardy Fish is the one who called his opponent a “dumb ass.”

It couldn’t be because she’s an African-American woman, could it?

ETA: Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough earlier - her race, her sex, and gender identity are certainly relevant.  She is an African-American woman who is being crucified in the media for something that barely drew attention when a white man was the culprit.  To dismiss this as “not a race issue” is certainly too cavalier for my own tastes.