INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Being booed was a new experience for
Serena Williams, who described herself as an innocent person who
just wants to play tennis.
|  | | Serena Williams hugs her father, Richard, as her sister, Venus, looks on after defeating Kim Clijsters of Belgium in their finals match at the Indian Wells Tennis Masters Series. The crowd booed the family. |
Saying her feelings were hurt by the booing before, during and
after her victory against Kim Clijsters in their Masters Series final
Saturday, Williams added, "How many people do you know go out
there and jeer a 19-year-old? I'm just a kid."
The booing by a large majority of the 15,940 fans obviously was
fallout from Venus Williams' last-minute withdrawal from the
semifinal against her sister on Thursday evening.
After walking on the court to a chorus of boos Saturday, Serena
said she had trouble focusing on the match. She lost the first
three games on the way to losing the first set but came back to
win 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
"I went over on the changeover and I prayed to God just to help
me be strong, not even to win, but to be strong, not listen to the
crowd," she said. "I just wanted some strength to go on.
"If I'm ever in this situation again, I know for a fact that
I'll be able to play better next time, and the next time better and
better until eventually it will be just like I have earplugs on."
Still, she said it was hard to take when there was booing even
after the match when she walked over to the courtside seats and
hugged her father, Richard, and Venus.
"I was like, 'Wow, this is weird,'" Serena said.
She said her father told her then, "Congratulations, good job,
way to hang in there mentally," and that her sister said
essentially the same thing.
Asked if she thought race might have had something to do with
the controversy and the negative response to her, Serena, who is
black, said: "I don't know if race has anything to do with this
particular situation. But in general I think, yeah, there's still a
little problem with racism in America."
Clijsters, a 17-year-old from Belgium who was cheered both when
she was introduced and when she won the first set, was surprised by
the crowd's reaction to Williams.
"The crowd was very loud, even when she missed a first serve
they were clapping," Clijsters said. "It's not her fault. She's
still a tennis player. She's a very nice person and everything."
Serena also branded a tabloid report that her father had told
her to lose to Venus last year at Wimbledon as "lies, just
scandalous lies."
As for the future, Williams, who also won at Indiana Wells in
1999, said she would probably return to defend her title next year,
adding: "Hopefully, next week at the Ericsson (in Florida) I'll be
in my home crowd, things will be a little different. But we'll
see." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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