Stosur stunsSerena in one-sided final
NEW YORK — Feeling wronged again at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams couldn’t let it go.
“That’s totally not cool,” she shouted at the umpire. Then, a few minutes later, she told her, “You’re a hater, and you’re just unattractive inside.”
The real trouble for Williams, though, was standing on the other side of the net, not in the umpire’s chair.
Sam Stosur pushed the 13-time Grand Slam champion all over Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday and took what she wanted, along with what the umpire gave her, winning the U.S. Open in a result that was as surprising for who won as how lopsided it was.
The ninth-seeded Australian won her first Grand Slam title with a 6-2, 6-3 dismantling of No. 28 Williams, the three-time U.S. Open champion who hadn’t lost a set en route to the final.
She lost two quick ones to Stosur. And, for the second time in three years, Williams did not leave Flushing Meadows quietly.
This time, the drama began when Williams, down a set and facing break point in the first game of the second, flushed a forehand deep to Stosur’s backhand side and screamed out `C’mon!’ — figuring she had hit a shot that Stosur wouldn’t reach.
But Stosur got a racket on the ball and the umpire, Eva Asderaki, called Williams for a hindrance — shouting out while the ball was still in play — and awarded the point, and thus the game, to Stosur.
What followed was nowhere near as menacing as 2009, when Williams berated and brandished her racket at a line judge who called a foot fault in her semifinal against Kim Clijsters. But it memorable nonetheless.
Williams went over to talk to Asderaki, saying, “I’m not giving her that game,” then, “I promise you, that’s not cool. That’s totally not cool.”
The fans, sitting on their hands as they watched an unexpected first-set flattening of the American, got riled up and so did Williams, breaking Stosur’s serve on the next game, then holding her own serve for a 2-1 lead.
But on the next changeover, Williams took things up again with Asderaki and she made it personal.
“You’re out of control,” she said. “You’re a hater, and you’re just unattractive inside.”
Then, a few moments later: “You’re out of control.” And, “Really, don’t even look at me.”
And as quickly as she had gained the momentum and the support of the crowd, they were gone, leaving Williams to explain and deflect — and wait to hear if there will be further consequences.
Asderaki issued a code violation warning for verbal abuse and the U.S. Tennis Association said officials would decide Monday whether Williams would be fined.
“I don’t even remember what I said,” Williams said after the match. “It was just so intense out there. It’s the final for me, and I was just … I guess I’ll see it on YouTube.”
What she’ll also see, if she watches long enough, is a rare example of a player who doesn’t feel beaten before she even walks onto the court against Williams.
That’s Stosur, a one-time doubles specialist who has revamped her game over the past several years and moved her way into the top 10 in singles. /ap
