在美国网球公开赛女单半决赛中，卫冕冠军小威廉姆斯在被比利时选手克里斯特尔斯6：4领先一盘的情况下，在第二盘第12局的比赛因为辱骂司线判其脚误而导致被判失分，无缘进入决赛。其实在第一盘比赛结束时，小威廉姆斯就因为摔拍而被判“违反行为准则”并获警告，而此次辱骂行为直接导致她被罚分并最终出局。有报道说，她当时对判她脚误的司线吼道：“我发誓，我要把这个球塞到你的喉咙里，你听见了吗？我发誓！”小威在赛后表示，自己当时说的话并没有威胁意味，那种情况下，大家都在为每一分而拼命，她还表示不后悔当时的言行举动。

Serena Williams argues a call by the line judge which led to her disqualification.

Kim Clijsters moved into the US Open women's singles final in controversial circumstances as the defending champion Serena Williams picked up a point penalty for a second code violation¹ on match point.

Williams was a set and 6-5 down when she foot-faulted on a second serve to hand Clijsters match point. Replays indicated the call had been a harsh one and an incensed² Williams unleashed³ a verbal tirade⁴ and waved her racket at theline judge. "I swear to God I'm ... going to take this ... ball and shove it down your ... throat, you hear that? I swear to God," Williams was reported to have said. After the line judge reported her to the umpire for verbal abuse, Williams added: "I never said I would kill you, are you serious?"

Williams had picked up a first code violation for smashing her racket at the end of the first set and this time the tournament referee⁵, Brian Earley, was called to the chair. After discussing the situation with Williams, the line judge and umpire, Williams was handed a second code violation, the resultant point penalty handing victory to a bemused Clijsters, 6-4 7-5.

"I said something that I guess they gave me a point penalty. Unfortunately it was on match point," Williams said after the match. "I didn't threaten. I was in the moment and everyone's fighting for every point."

As for the call that sparked her tirade, Williams said: "I've never been foot-faulted [all year] and then suddenly in this tournament they keep calling foot faults. I'm not going to sit here and make an excuse. If I foot-fault, I did. It is what it is and that's basically all it was."

Williams, though, said she did not regret losing her temper. "I haven't really thought about it to have any regrets. I try not to live my life saying, 'I wish, I wish', but I was out there and I fought and I tried and I did my best."

Clijsters, playing just her third tournament since coming out of a 27-month retirement⁶ during which time she became a mother for the first time, will now face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who beat Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-3 in the other semi-final.

For much of the match Clijsters outplayed Williams, whose usually dominant⁷ serve deserted⁸ the American. Williams also saw her second serve exploited, her unforced error count hit 31 and she had been unable to build on her breaks of serve by allowing Clijsters to break back immediately at crucial moments.

Vocabulary:

code violation:  违反行为准则

match point: 赛点。网球比赛的术语。当一个球员只需要再得一分就会获得整个比赛的胜利时，他被称为处在赛点。

（英语点津 Helen 编辑）

foot-fault: 脚误

line judge: 司线