The answer is simple. How athletic do you need to be to play two sets of tennis?

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Interval Design Studio
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I did not watch the match, but the accounts I heard she had already basically lost before this happened. Was that the case?

And the sexism thing is being way over blown in my opinion. If it were a man and a woman playing each other and the match was being called differently for each that is sexist. The fact that someone thinks men would have gotten away with something different is really neither here nor there to me. Most importantly is that the rules are applied equally to the two competitors in the match. Next would be applied the same over time. I'm not saying men should be given more leash, but if it is known then don't cross the line. If you want to cross that line to break that barrier, great, but make it about that. This is just a shit show bc it's SW and she seems to me to have entitlement issues.

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Brian

Roid rage?

Pink?

A few unrequested and highly biased thoughts regarding the US open finals debacle:

I'll preface this by saying that I genuinely have immense respect for Serena Williams as an athlete. When she's on, no one can stay with her. It's been that way for years and years. Given the current depth in women's tennis, I don't think it's a stretch to call Williams the greatest female tennis player ever. At least, she's certainly in the conversation with legendary champions like Graf and Navratilova. Also, I'd put her in the conversation as the most dominant athlete worldwide in their sport today.

I'm less of a fan of her character. Frankly, based on her behavior I think Serena is a world-class jerk. This is hardly the first time she's acted like a narcissistic bully. In fact, you could say her behavior demonstrates a clear pattern of heedless self-concern, arrogance and superiority to those around her. I've noticed that when the spotlight is taken off of her, she gets whiney and entitled. Her making final all about her and less about the astonishing performance of a new player was selfish in the extreme. Again, none of this in unique to Serena, she's hardly the only entitled millionaire athlete out there. In fact, this kind of attitude is common among champions and Serena is clearly a great champion. She's no worse than some, but she's also not a whole lot better.

Regarding the specific incident, it's pretty clear she deserved the penalties. Smash a racket? That's a point. Get coached (and her coach admitted he was coaching) and get caught, that's a point. Call the umpire a "liar" and a "cheat" and talk about destroying his career on court? Yeah, that's unacceptable and worthy of a game penalty. I also think the "well, others have done worse" argument is both likely wrong and ultimately pointless. Consider the facts of the case and the outcome is reasonable.

Regarding the claims of "sexism", I'm not sure what to think. Of course there's sexism in sport and I'm sure Serena has been a victim of sexism. I don't think this is one of those times, though. I think the rush to defend Serena in the press is misguided and biased, especially given that most people I've talked to (both men and women) agree that she acted unacceptably. Certainly there are male tennis players who have a habit of acting like jerks, Kyrgios in particular has a long history of on court boorishness. However, it's not as if these male players get a pass with fans or officials. McEnroe was hardly universally adored in his day and Kyrgios doesn't have many fans today. Also, personally I've never heard a male tennis star make on court threats of violence and even death as Serena has. I saw that 2009 incident live and it was unequivocally shocking. Also, I've never heard a male tennis star call an umpire a "thief" and "liar". This one was also shocking. Overall, the punishment fits the crime and that's all there really is to say.

She is the greatest doper of all times (legal doper, I’m sure she has doc notes for all the testosterone that helps her sleep at night etc.), she makes Lance look like school boy. Not only in doping department, but also BS department.



She is clearly losing the game, but still makes herself point of the attention, she literally steals the greatest moment of the other girl ( I do not even know her name, because everyone talks only about Serena) and makes the entire match about herself, by playing women movement card… totally pathetic considering fact she is playing against another woman. For sure she was on power trip, she blew the fuses all the way…

So...?

I mean, I can't pretend to be a decathlon buff, but would your opinion change after the weekend? ;)

really, a list without carl lewis?