The results of matches, whether in tennis or in any other sport, should be decided by the players, not by the officials. If you are going to call a foot fault you need to be mindful of two things. One, make sure that the foot fault you are calling is real and not imaginary. Two, you need to call the foot faults consistently and fairly throughout the match, instead of waiting to call one two points from the match. I can undesrtstand why Serena was upset. This is not the first time she has been the victim of a terrible call in a key match at the U.S. Open. Serena is the ultimate sports woman. She would be the last to complain if the rules were applied fairly and consistently. But she has every right to complain when the rules are applied inconsistenly and in a "gotcha" sort of way. I appreciate that every sports personality including linespeople deserves their fifteen minutes of fame. If that's you goal, by all means go for it. But please, do it in way that does not bring the sport into disrepute.

Question should have been, why allow a foot fault call with only two points left in the match?

And that comment from Cindy931700 for South Africa. You need to be quite your country has a lot to be ashamed of. Does apartheid mean anything to you.

Again the hypocrisy of these negative comments are appalling.

I cannot believe some of the comments with the yes votes. You people act like she committed murder. The Williams sisters have always consistently been a class act in the sport. They are very competitive while playing so an outburst like Serena's can occasionally occur. She was penalized as is called for in the rule book and further fined, just like any other sport would handle it. The fact that it happened on match point makes no difference. In baseball or football you can be ejected with the same results, possibly causing a loss for the entire team. During the post match interview I am sure she had not had time to cool off and gather her thoughts. I am sure her later statements were sincere since that is the kind of gracious loser she is all the time. I can't believe you people that mentioned race at all. What the heck does that have to do with anything in the 21st century United States. I didn't hear Serena blame her penalty on anything else but herself and her actions. Grow up people. She got what the rules called for. Now move on.

Yes - Because of her actions, the deduction was deserved. I thought that Cindyd's response on 9/13/09 was strange. Cindyd stated that since Cindyd came from South Africa, Serena must have appeared to be threatening. I don't know what Cyndyd's experience was, but ANYONE can appear to be threatening or make threats when they are mad. It does not matter where one comes from or their ethnicity.

She just lost a twitter and facebook follower.  Her actions were horrible as a lady and professional athlete.

she just lot a twitter and facebook follower. Her actions were horrible for a lady and professional athlete.

No....absolutley not . No one ever deserves to get a point taken away that they've already won, it makes no sense. Umpires and linecallers simply need to do their jobs correclty. These type of bad calls have happened to Serena & Venus too many times , she just had enough already. The lines person was over the top herself trying to LIE and say Serena threatened to kill her.... " stop it " Well that's quite typical of those people. Tennis needs Serena.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, she got beaten by a white girl, one who has a child and has been out of the game for 2 years. I'm glad Justine Henin-Ardenne is coming back. Fed up of just watching brute force on the courts.

The outburst was a long time comming. The odd calls and occurances that I can recall in majors are as follow: The US Open versus Caprati when numerous calls went against Serena verified by the camera; Frech Open versus Justine Henin when Henin signaled with her hand and did not admit the time out; and then this years US Open with the foot faults. There have been other bad calls which are part of the game, however these three stand out in majors which arguably denied her two maybe three more majors. I am a long time tennis fan and former college athlete. I was at the Indian Wells match when racial epitaths were hurled at the sisters and the father. I know in watching many tournaments over the years that many of the sport's commentators and ex players on TV seem agahst over the "home crowds" pulling against the sisters but never give an opinion as to the motivation of the crowd.