RACKET AND SPIN

"All hell broke loose" is how original bad boy of tennis John McEnroe described drama queen Serena Williams as she went kicking and screaming out of the U.S. Open on Saturday.

Williams has made a cameo appearance in medical drama ER and lists acting as a hobby but she does not need to rely on a script to produce her own drama.

On Day 13 of the hardcourt major, wide-eyed fans at Flushing Meadows witnessed the latest episode to unfold around the 11-times grand slam champion.

Facing Kim Clijsters in a hotly anticipated semi-final showdown at the Open, an angry outburst from Williams resulted in one of the most bizarre endings to a match on a grand slam stage.

With the Belgian on the brink of victory, defending champion Williams was called for a foot-fault on a second serve to go match point down.

Astounded by the verdict, Williams immediately saw red and threateningly marched up to the official. She waved her racket ominously and thrust the ball into the lineswoman's face as she launched into a tirade.

"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 told the line-judge.

The lineswoman reported her to umpire Louise Engzell for verbal abuse. Having already received a warning earlier in the match for smashing a racket, Williams was handed an automatic point penalty for "unsportsmanlike conduct," giving Clijsters the match and a final date with Danish ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Not since McEnroe was defaulted from a fourth round match against Mikael Pernfors at the 1990 Australian Open -- when he swore at the umpire, supervisor, and referee -- has a singles player suffered such an ignominious exit from such a high profile match.

But Williams remained unrepentant for her tirade even though the lineswoman told the chair umpire that she felt threatened.

"She says she felt threatened? She said this to you?" she asked the reporter who fielded the question.

"I've never been in a fight my whole life, so I don't know why she should have felt threatened."

The ball leaves her racket with a great deal of spin!

REUTERS