Unsporting Serena’s ugly outburst takes shine off final

“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 US 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 US 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!” – presuming 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 semi-final against Kim Clijsters. But it was memorable nonetheless. The fans, sitting on their hands as they watched an unexpected first-set flattening of the American, got riled 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 US Tennis Association fined the player $2,000 last night. Williams was still on probation for the 2009 incident but escaped a more severe penalty after officials ruled Sunday’s incident was not a “major offence”.

“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 ten in singles.

She became the first Australian woman to win a major championship since Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980. While Williams was dealing with the emotion of the call and the rift with the umpire, she was also wondering if Stosur, who joins Li Na and Petra Kvitova as first-time Grand Slam winners this year, would come down to earth. “I thought, okay, at some point you could level out, because I know sometimes it happens,” Williams said.

“But I’ve played a couple Grand Slam finals where I never levelled out, so I definitely thought about it.”

Like Clijsters two years ago, Stosur was a confused bystander when Williams got into it with the referee. But as was the case with Clijsters, Stosur didn’t need any help. Even Williams agreed with that. “I hit a winner but I guess it didn’t count,” she said when asked about the call in her on-court interview. “It wouldn’t have mattered in the end. Sam played really well.”