Dealing with Officials
The Australian Open Tennis Championship is just about to begin. The main draw will be released on January 15, 2010 and play will begin on January 18, 2010. And, so with this exciting tournament about to begin, my thoughts turn back to the most recent “major” tennis tournament and to the behavior of Serena Williams.
If you are a tennis fan, you probably know that Ms. Williams was a finalist in the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in September, 2009 and that the final point of that championship match ended with a point penalty. If you didn’t see it, read about it, or hear the story, let me give you a brief summary. In short, the championship match was well played and hard fought. Ms. Williams was down one set and 5 games to 6 in the second set in a best of three sets match against Kim Clijsters. Serving at 15-30 (i.e., Ms. Clijsters was 2 points from victory), Ms. Williams was called for a foot fault on her second serve (meaning that she lost that point and was now only one point away from defeat). Immediately following the foot fault call, Ms. Williams began yelling at and threatening the line judge who had made the call. She waved her racket at the official and was reported to say “I swear to God I’m [expletive] going to take this [expletive] ball and shove it down your [expletive] throat, you hear that? I swear to God.” As a result of her behavior (and a previous warning for racket abuse), Ms. Williams was given a point penalty, which meant that she lost the match, and she was also given a fine of $10,000.
Approximately 2 months later, the Grand Slam committee decided that Ms. Williams would be fined an additional $82,500 for her outburst and put on probation for 2 years. This fine is the largest ever for inappropriate behavior during a Grand Slam event. And, the probation period means that if Ms. Williams commits another similar behavior during any Grand Slam Event in the next two years, the fine would be increased to $175,000 and she would not be allowed to compete in the next US Open.
Clearly, this is an extreme example of how athletes might react inappropriately to what they perceive to be bad decisions made by officials. However, it is amazing to me that much of what you might read regarding this event suggests that Ms. Williams was “right” and that such a call should not have been made at such a critical point in the match. I find this to be remarkable. Although there is no
visual record of the actual occurrence of the foot fault that I have seen, the official clearly believed that Ms. Williams had committed a foot fault during the service. Given that this official was charged with making a foot fault call, clearly she did what she was supposed to do. To argue that this call should not be made at a critical point in the match is ludicrous. The server can gain an advantage from getting closer to the net during the service, so to NOT make the call is to be unfair to the receiver. To argue that Ms. Williams’ behavior was “right” is also insupportable. The behavior that Ms. Williams demonstrated by verbally threatening and physically intimidating the official was unbelievable. Clearly, there was nothing “right” about Ms. Williams’ outburst. The good news is that in this case, there were repercussions for the behavior and these repercussions hopefully send a loud message to other tennis players and even to athletes in other sports.
Obviously, this event provides a teachable moment for athletes from all sports. It is worthwhile for athletes to ask themselves these questions: How do you react to officials? Can you control your emotions in response to what you perceive to be incorrect decisions by an official? Do you let a “bad” call by an official take you out of the game? Being able to control your emotions, to put a “bad” call behind you, and to focus on those aspects of the competition that are within your control are mental toughness skills that are displayed by the athletes who are the most successful in their sport. It is important for athletes striving to develop their mental toughness to gain an awareness of their reactions to officiating and to learn to control those reactions so that their performance is not hurt.
Certainly, Ms. Williams has been extraordinarily successful in tennis and is a remarkable athlete who usually displays incredible calm in her matches. But, what would have happened in the U.S. Open if Ms. Williams hadn’t lost her temper. If she hadn’t been given a point penalty and had, instead, had the opportunity to continue to compete with Ms. Clijsters for the championship. Perhaps Ms. Clijsters would have won anyway, but the disappointing thing for Ms. Williams and for all tennis fans is that we never had the chance to see what might have happened . . . .Learning to control your emotions and to respond appropriately when you perceive an injustice in sport is part of being mentally tough and is something all athletes should work towards in practices and competitions. I look forward to seeing how Ms. Williams and the other competitors carry themselves in the upcoming Australian Open.
