Tennis Capsules: Williams fined record $82,500 for U.S. Open tirade

Serena Williams was fined a record $82,500 for her tirade at a U.S. Open line judge and could be suspended from that tournament if she has another "major offense" at any Grand Slam in the next two years.

Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock's ruling was released Monday, and he said Williams faces a "probationary period" at tennis' four major championships in 2010 and 2011. If she has another "major offense" at a Grand Slam tournament in that time, the fine would increase to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open.

"But if she does not have another offense in the next two years, the suspension is lifted," Babcock said in a telephone interview from London.

He said Williams is handing over $82,500 right now to the Grand Slam committee, already far more than the previous highest fine for a Grand Slam offense. In 1995, Jeff Tarango stormed off the court at Wimbledon and accused the chair umpire of showing favoritism to certain players in exchange for their friendship. Tarango was fined a total of $43,756, which was reduced to $28,256 on appeal, and barred from Wimbledon the next year.

Williams lashed out at a lineswoman after a foot-fault call at the end of her semifinal loss to eventual champion Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open in September. It was a profanity-laced, finger-pointing, racket-brandishing display in which Williams approached the official with what U.S. Open tournament director Jim Curley called at the time "a threatening manner."

"I am thankful that we now have closure on the incident and we can all move forward," Williams said in a statement released Monday by her publicist. "I am back in training in preparation for next season and I continue to be grateful for all of the support from my fans and the tennis community."

She earned $350,000 by reaching the U.S. Open singles semifinals, part of her more than $6.5 million in prize money in 2009, a single-season record for women's tennis. Her career prize money tops $28 million.

The American is an 11-time Grand Slam singles champion and ended the 2009 season at No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

Williams' outburst drew a $10,000 fine from the U.S. Tennis Association in September — the maximum onsite penalty a tennis player can face. But because it happened at a Grand Slam tournament, Babcock was charged with investigating whether further punishment was merited.

He concluded that Williams violated the "major offense" rule for "aggravated behavior." The Grand Slam committee — with one representative from each of the sport's four major championships, including USTA president Lucy Garvin — approved his decision Saturday.

"As a voting member of the Grand Slam committee, the USTA agrees with the additional penalties levied against Serena Williams for her on-court behavior during her semifinal match at the 2009 U.S. Open," the USTA said in a statement released to the AP. "The USTA looks forward to Ms. Williams competing in the 2010 US Open."

Babcock said a "major offense" under Grand Slam rules is "any conduct that is determined to be the 'major offense' of 'aggravated behavior' or 'conduct detrimental to the game.'" There is no specific definition of what sort of actions constitute a "major offense."

He said the highest possible fine that Williams could face — $175,000, if she violates her Grand Slam probation — was chosen because it is the difference in winnings between reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals at the U.S. Open. The $10,000 Williams already was docked by the USTA will be counted toward that total; that's why she is paying half of $165,000 now.

During the Sept. 12 match at Flushing Meadows, the foot fault — a call rarely, if ever, made at that stage of such a significant match — resulted in a double-fault for Williams, moving Clijsters one point from victory.

Williams paused, retrieved a ball to serve again and then stopped. She stepped toward the official, screaming, cursing and shaking the ball at her. Williams was penalized a point. It happened to come on match point, ending the semifinal with Clijsters ahead 6-4, 7-5.

Indianapolis likely losing ATP event after decades

Tournament director Kevin Martin said Monday that the event's nonprofit group faced serious economic challenges that prompted the decision. He wouldn't say where the tournament might move, but said a sale was expected by the end of December.

"I can confidently say that we explored every conceivable scenario to retain the tournament in Indianapolis," Martin said.

The summer tournament on the IUPUI campus has been part of the U.S. Open Series. Its attendance reached nearly 100,000 fans when it drew stars such as John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg and Andy Roddick.

RCA ended its sponsorship deal after the 2006 event and attendance dropped to about 41,000 this year as fewer big names played.

Indianapolis-based drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. had sponsored the tournament after RCA withdrew, but had said it couldn't commit to the event until early next year.

"We've been busy with the reorganization of our company," Lilly spokeswoman Lauren Cislak said. "We're not in a position to commit to the sponsorship right now."

The tournament traces its roots to 1921 when it began as the Western Open Championships. It moved to the new Indianapolis Tennis Center in 1979 and hosted the U.S. Open Clay Court Championships until it became a hardcourt tournament in 1987.

Nikolay Davydenko awed by winning ATP Finals

Davydenko had won the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, beating all three Grand Slam champions of 2009 along the way. The Russian defeated U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 in Sunday's final.

"I think it's amazing," Davydenko said.

In one week, he downed Rafael Nadal, Federer and Del Potro and all but one of the Grand Slam finalists. The only player to escape him was Andy Roddick, who withdrew from the tournament with an injury.

For good measure, Davydenko overtook Roddick in the rankings, moving from No. 7 to No. 6.

"All four, five matches. What I did here, first it was very good concentration. Physically, I don't know what I can explain," said Davydenko, who practiced for only three days heading into the tournament. "Step by step, from first match against (Novak) Djokovic, maybe first match give me more chance, more confidence, maybe everything."

The tournament, renamed the ATP World Tour Finals from the Masters Cup, was played at O2 Arena for the first time and drew near capacity crowds of about 18,000 per session.

Davydenko opened play in Group B with a loss to Djokovic — the same man he lost to in last year's final, which was played in Shanghai. But he rebounded by beating Australian Open champion Nadal and then French Open finalist Robin Soderling.

In the semifinals, the energetic Russian defeated Federer, the man who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open and then broke Sampras' major record by winning his 15th at Wimbledon.

"He did well," said Federer, who lost to Davydenko for the first time in 13 career meetings but still managed to claim the year-end No. 1 ranking for a fifth time. "I thought he played strong throughout, even though I don't think it was our best match we ever played against each other."

Before winning the title Sunday, Davydenko may have been best known for being linked to a betting scandal, but the four-time Grand Slam semifinalist has been cleared of any wrongdoing. And now that he has a big trophy to put on his mantel, the pressure will be on Davydenko to win his first Grand Slam title in 2010.

"If Grand Slams come best-of-three sets, yes," said Davydenko, who acknowledges the matches at majors are tough on his body. "I need to have very good physical preparation for the five-set matches in Australia. You need to run not like two hours; you need to run for four hours."

-- Chris Lehourites