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Former tennis bad
boy, John McEnroe, said Serena Williams got a raw deal on the
foot-fault call against her in the semi-final of last year’s U.S. Open
that triggered an ugly outburst and cost her the match.

With her opponent,
Kim Clijsters, on the brink of victory, Williams was called for a
foot-fault on a second serve to go match point down. “I don’t think the
person should have been calling the foot fault at that situation,”
McEnroe said during a conference call on Wednesday to promote his
broadcast booth partnership with brother Patrick McEnroe at this year’s
U.S. Open. Fired up by the judgment, Williams erupted in anger and
yelled at the lines woman who reported her for verbal abuse. Having
already received a warning for smashing a racket, Williams was handed
an automatic point penalty for a second violation which gave Clijsters
the match and paved the way for her victory in the final. McEnroe, who
had a reputation for arguing calls during his career, said he thought
it was a questionable judgment and that the official should have warned
Williams ahead of time.

Close call

“It was very close.
I wasn’t sure it was a foot fault,” said McEnroe, who insisted Williams
would not have gained a significant edge even if she had inched forward
on the serve. “At the very least that person in my opinion should have
said to Serena, if it was happening regularly … ‘hey, listen, the
next one I’m going to have to call.’ That’s my opinion.” McEnroe said
the reaction by Williams, who shook a ball in her clenched fist and
threatened “to shove it down” the throat of the lines woman, was an
aberration for the American. “I’ve never seen her lose it like that.
There’s no doubt that she lost it far worse than I’ve ever seen her
lose it. I dare to say even worse than I’ve ever lost it,” McEnroe
said. “I had to think back in the memory banks, and I think she
possibly could have even topped me there.”