Serena Williams was fined a record US$82,500 for her tirade at a US Open line judge and could be suspended from that tournament if she has another “major offense” at any Grand Slam in the next two years.
Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock’s ruling was released on Monday, and he said Williams faces a “probationary period” at tennis’ four major championships next year and in 2011.
If she has another “major offense” at a Grand Slam tournament in that time, the fine would increase to US$175,000 and she would be barred from the following US Open.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“But if she does not have another offense in the next two years, the suspension is lifted,” Babcock said.
He said Williams was handing over US$S82,500 to the Grand Slam committee. In 1995, Jeff Tarango stormed off the court at Wimbledon and accused the umpire of showing favoritism to certain players in exchange for their friendship. Tarango was fined a total of US$43,756, which was reduced to US$28,256 on appeal, and barred from Wimbledon the next year.
Williams lashed out at a lineswoman after a foot-fault call during her semi-final loss to Kim Clijsters at the US Open in September. It was a profanity-laced, finger-pointing, racket-brandishing display in which Williams approached the official with what US Open tournament director Jim Curley called at the time “a threatening manner.”
“I am thankful that we now have closure on the incident and we can all move forward,” Williams said in a statement released on Monday. “I am back in training in preparation for next season and I continue to be grateful for all of the support from my fans and the tennis community.”
She earned US$350,000 by reaching the US Open singles semi-finals, part of her more than US$6.5 million in prize money this year, a single-season record for women’s tennis.
The American is an 11-time Grand Slam singles champion and ended the season at No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
Williams’ outburst drew a US$10,000 fine from the US Tennis Association in September — the maximum onsite penalty a tennis player can face. But because it happened at a Grand Slam tournament, Babcock was charged with investigating whether further punishment was merited.
He concluded that Williams violated the “major offense” rule for “aggravated behavior.”
Babcock said a “major offense” under Grand Slam rules is “any conduct that is determined to be the ‘major offense’ of ‘aggravated behavior’ or ‘conduct detrimental to the game.’”
There is no specific definition of what sort of actions constitute a “major offense.”
He said the highest possible fine that Williams could face — US$175,000, if she violates her Grand Slam probation — was chosen because it is the difference in winnings between reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals at the US Open. The US$10,000 Williams already was docked by the USTA will be counted toward that total; that’s why she is paying half of US$165,000 now.
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