Reuters

Dustin Brown of Jamaica walks off the court after losing a game against Austria's Jurgen Meltzer at the 2010 Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London June 21, 2010.

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At your request, here is your thread to discuss Newport and the upcoming US summer hard court season.

It's time to plant fall crops so I'm about to be in the weeds again.

I'll do my best.

Dear ESPN,

I've never seen Mary Carillo as anything but a commentator who covers the sport with insight and wit and as much objectivity as she can muster when certain players aren't on the court. I've defended her around the Internet for years against accusations of ineptitude and far worse. When it comes to Serena Williams, I've found her criticism a bit acidic, but fair, giving her the benefit of my doubt, if I had any doubt about her feelings at all.

Tonight, she crossed a line.

She actually said from the broadcast booth that the world No. 1 and defending Australian Open champion is trying to start a gender war and that she got away with threatening murder.

I spit out my tea.

This from an analyst who doesn't understand that having the best serve and having the best service games won statistics are two different measures of ability and execution. One's an opinion, the other, a quantifiable fact.

Serena committed no crime, Mary Carillo. She wasn't arrested and charged. She wasn't handcuffed or dragged out of Arthur Ashe stadium in shackles.

Pam Shriver came armed and ready, as though she knew Mary would take her rant to another level during Serena's second-round match. Sounded like Pam read from a page, bringing facts to the table and let her colleague and all of us know that no man in the NFL who had an actual physical altercation with an official was fined more than $25,000.

Mary Carillo has driven fans away from tonight's broadcast because they didn't want to hear any more of her slanderous vitriol.

ESPN, do the sport a favor and fire Mary Carillo. And if you can't or won't do that, then ban her from calling another Serena Williams match for the rest of her tenure with your corporation.

Sincerely,

Craig Hickman
Maine

Update
I had intended this only as an open letter venting, but a reader suggested I post the ESPN contact link here for anyone who wants to send them a complaint. If you prefer snail mail, their corporate address is:

ESPN, Inc.
545 Middle St
Bristol, CT 06010

Reuters

Serena Williams of the U.S. holds her trophy after defeating Venus Williams of the U.S. in their Ladies' Singles finals match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, July 4, 2009.

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It's been a mighty long time, but I'm feeling the need to rant this Tuesday. MadProsseah brought us the news and I posted the ITF press release about Serena's penalty in his entry.

The release itself is a fraud, the perfect representation of the fraudulent organization that released it.

As an astute commenter on another forum asked, "If she's not suspended....what does this one mean?"

3. Ms. Williams is hereby suspended from participation in either the 2010, 2011 or 2012 US Open, as the case may be, except that any such suspension will not be imposed if no further Grand Slam Major Offence conviction occurs through and including 2011.

It means that the ITF is trying to control her.

Who is the ITF trying to appease? Mary Carillo? Andre Agassi? Lindsay Davenport? The rest of the field? Make a clear-cut decision. Suspend her or don't suspend her. Fine her $175,000 or fine her $82,500. But whatever you decide, don't try to split the difference with some Draconian bullshit.

Serena Williams is not an animal who belongs on a leash, short or long. She's a human being who lost her mind and had a reprehensible and inexcusable outburst. Given her history of high-profile, on-court injustices, a lesser person would have lost her mind years ago.

Serena has been fined the maximum. She apologized. She's never done anything like it before; it's highly unlikely she'll ever do anything like it again. She's proven throughout her career that she learns from her mistakes, big and small.

Adults would move along.

But the adults are asleep at the wheel over at the International Tennis Federation and the infants are running wild.

Fine Serena excessively, but if she behaves she'll get half of it back? Suspend Serena from the US Open for three years, but if she behaves her suspension won't be enforced? And since that clearly isn't enough, let's put her on probation and treat her like a common criminal. Oh, yes. And let's not define our terms (what the fuck constitutes a major offense anyway?) so we can muddy the water with ambiguity.

What kind of mind games are these idiots playing? I'm not one for shaming, but the whole thing is beyond ridiculous and the ITF and its representatives ought to be ashamed of themselves.

The ITF's action here is even more reprehensible and inexcusable than Serena's because the ITF, despite its cowardice, actually has power over her and they're abusing it to try to control her.

If this is how the ITF governs, then it should be put out of its misery post haste.

And I hope Serena, her spirit willing, her body strong, is inspired to win every Slam she enters throughout her entire probation.

Getty

by MadProfessah

11-time grand slam champion and current would No. 1 Serena Williams has been fined $175,000 for her profane outburst that led to her point-penalty loss in the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals to Kim Clijsters and could be banned from that tournament if she commits any equivalent violations in the next two years.

The committee said a further major offence at a grand slam in the next two years would see her suspended from the U.S. Open in 2010, 2011 or 2012. The fine will be reduced to $82,500 if she commits no further major offence through 2011.

"On 9 November 2009, the Grand Slam Committee administrator determined Serena Williams had committed the grand slam major offence of aggravated behavior for her misconduct at the 2009 U.S. Open," the committee said in a statement.

I'm glad that the Grand Slam Committee did not go with the rumored one million dollar fine, although I would have been fine if they had required her to put up a one million dollar bond that could be forfeited if she committed a similar major offence through 2011.

I also still think that there needs to be video review on foot fault calls. There should be no call that is not reviewable by an impartial technological device. Currently there are numerous situations where calls are made which are not reviewable by anyone: let calls (ball touches the net during the serve), foot faults (player's foot touches the line during the service motion), player contact with the ball (only the racquet is allowed to touch the tennis ball) and "not up" (ball bounces twice on their side before player hits the ball).

Electronic line calling is a fabulous advance (and should NOT be limited to 3 per set; they should be unlimited unless the umpire thinks the player is abusing the system) but it is not enough. Instant video review should be made available immediately.

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1. Ms. Williams is guilty of the Major Offense of Aggravated Behaviour (Article V.A);

2. Ms. Williams is hereby fined $175,000 (including the $10,000 penalty alreadypaid) which will be reduced to $82,500 if no further Grand Slam Major Offence conviction occurs through and including 2011;

3. Ms. Williams is hereby suspended from participation in either the 2010, 2011 or 2012 US Open, as the case may be, except that any such suspension will not be imposed if no further Grand Slam Major Offence conviction occurs through and including 2011;

4. If a further Grand Slam Major Offence is committed during the period, the full penalties will be re-instated in addition to any other penalties imposed for the subsequent Grand Slam Major Offence;

5. As always, all financial penalties arising from misconduct at Grand Slam tournaments are donated by the Grand Slam tournaments to the Grand Slam Development Fund.

On 28 November 2009, the Grand Slam Committee affirmed the Decision and Penalties of the Administrator and Ms. Williams was so advised.

The Grand Slam Committee is the independent governing body responsible for, among other duties and functions, the establishment and enforcement of the Grand Slam Rules, Regulations and Code of Conduct.