American Morning
Serena Williams joins us Wednesday on 'American Morning'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/16/williams.serena.gi.art.jpg caption="Serena Williams during day nine of the 2009 U.S. Open in New York."]
Program Note: Tennis superstar Serena Williams joins us live Wednesday on "American Morning."
Williams put her controversial U.S. Open singles exit behind her on Monday as she and sister Venus claimed the women's doubles title at Flushing Meadows.
The Williams sisters, seeded fourth, defeated the defending champions and top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-2 6-2 in 89 minutes.
The match came 40 hours after Serena had been knocked out of the singles by Kim Clijsters, the Belgian having won match point when the American was punished with a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, her second code violation of the match.
Before the doubles final got under way, Serena issued an apology to the line judge she verbally abused during her semi-final defeat, amending a previous statement in which she had pointedly not made any such gesture.
Serena Williams' tennis outburst under review
A profanity-laced outburst by tennis superstar Serena Williams could cost her a lot more than originally thought. Williams has already been hit with a $10,000 fine for swearing and waving her racquet at a line judge. She was also fined an additional $500 for racquet abuse when she threw her racquet and broke it earlier in the match.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/14/wertheim.art.jpg caption="Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated calls Serena Williams' outburst unprecedented."]
The incident with the line judge occurred after she was called on a foot fault in the semifinals of this weekend’s U.S. Open. If officials decide Williams committed a major offense under the Grand Slam rules, she could lose all of her prize money and maybe even suspended from a future Grand Slam event.
Jon Wertheim has been covering the U.S. Open for Sports Illustrated where he's the senior tennis writer. He joined John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Monday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
John Roberts: Have you ever seen anything like this?
Jon Wertheim: Not like that. And certainly not from Serena. We've seen players lose it with officials but to get that close and threaten like that. Also, at that stage – a Grand Slam semifinal. That was unprecedented as far as I’ve seen.
Roberts: There is no clear angle that I have seen on the foot fault. Apparently that line judge, though, she's very good. She's very confident in the calls that she makes. Serena had been called for a foot fault a couple – three games earlier on the other side of the court by a different line judge. If it was an infraction, it was a minor one. She wasn’t a foot into the court or anything like that. Maybe she touched the line. Looking at it, John McEnroe said you don't call something like that at that point in the game. It was 15-30 with Serena serving, and she touched the line. Should that even have been called?
Wertheim: I mean, you know, in a perfect world it never happens, but I don't think you can waive off infractions. You get on slippery terrain pretty quickly when you make calls or don't make calls based on where you are in the match. I mean, you're either over the line or not. Unfortunately, you wish one way or the other there was conclusive video. It was a pretty shaky call, but that in no way excuses what followed.
Teen tennis star going home to 'normal'
The dream ended last night for 17-year-old tennis star Melanie Oudin, who lost in straight sets to Caroline Wozniacki at the U.S. Open. Oudin joined John Roberts and Carol Costello on CNN’s “American Morning” Thursday to talk about her incredible run. An edited transcript of the interview is below.
John Roberts: Last year was your first U.S. Open appearance. You came in as a wild card. You were out in the first round. What was this year's experience compared to last?
Melanie Oudin: It was so much better. I wanted to get revenge this year, because it was very disappointing losing last year first round.
Roberts: Yeah, you'd been pro for all of four months…what the heck?
Oudin: Yeah. I did much better. And I’m really proud of myself for how I did.
Carol Costello: You were saying before it was a combination of everything that maybe affected your game. Tell us about that, what the pressure has been like on you, with all of the attention that you're getting.
Oudin: It's been hard. It's definitely different than what I'm used to. I'm just used to going out and playing tennis, but these two weeks have been so much more than that. It’s been lots of media and lots of different things happening and people knowing who I am now and just a lot of things, but all in all, it was good for me and it’s a good learning experience.
Ice cream reward for teen tennis star? Coach says 'maybe'
She missed her junior prom, homecoming too. But for 17-year-old Melanie Oudin, it's all good. Or as she might say, it’s awesome.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/09/oudin.melanie.gi.art.jpg caption="Melanie Oudin returns a shot against Nadia Petrova of Russia during day eight of the 2009 U.S. Open on September 7, 2009."]
She is a teenager from Marietta, Georgia and the toast of this year's U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York. To reach tonight's quarterfinal she beat four Russian players including the thirteenth seed, Nadia Petrova.
“This is my dream forever. I’ve worked so hard for this and it's finally happening. I'm in my first quarterfinal of a grand slam. So, it's amazing,” she says.
Brian de Villiers is Melanie Oudin’s coach. He joined John Roberts and Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
Kiran Chetry: They're calling this the Cinderella story of the U.S. Open. How do you feel that she's gotten this far?
Brian de Villiers: Obviously I’m very excited and thrilled for her. Like she said, she's worked so hard for this. It's taken nine years to get here, so she's excited. We're all excited. And I'm just hoping she performs well.
John Roberts: In terms of her development, she was a wild card going in. She turned pro in April of 2008. She was a wild card going in to last year's U.S. Open. She lost in the first round. She made it to the quarters of Wimbledon. She's in the quarters this year. What is it that has made the difference between last year and this year?
De Villiers: I think last year she felt a lot of pressure. The girl she played – she knew from the juniors and it was a wild card U.S. Open – first time in the main draw in that. And she put a lot of pressure on herself. I think coming into it this year she has a little more experience from Wimbledon. And just over the year her game is finally starting to click. She's figuring things out and she’s playing a lot smarter.
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Commentary: Protecting NFL players is paramount
Editor’s Note: DeMaurice Smith is the executive director of the NFL Players Association. Previously, he was a trial lawyer and litigation partner at a D.C. law firm. Smith previously served as Counsel to then Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder in the U.S. Department of Justice before entering private practice. He will be speaking today to the House Judiciary Committee on the impact hard hits and concussions have on NFL players. Below are excerpts from that testimony given exclusively to CNN.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/28/smith.demaurice.art.jpg caption="DeMaurice Smith says the number one priority of the NFL Players Association is to protect those who play the game."]
By DeMaurice F. Smith
As Executive Director of the NFL Players Association, my number one priority is to protect those who play and have played this game. There is no interest greater than their health and safety. Let me repeat: protecting the players is paramount.
The House Judiciary Committee deserves immense credit and appreciation for bringing this issue of concussions and brain trauma in the sport of football to the forefront. I am confident that the Committee and today’s hearing will be a turning point on this issue and my hope is that this day will serve as a marker denoting the day that those of us that are involved in football at the highest level commit ourselves to finding the right answers.
It will not only influence this game at the professional level, but for our players in College, High School and Youth Football. I have one simple declaration on behalf of those who play and those who played this game: We are committed to getting the right answers, to work with everyone who has the goal of protecting our players and to serve as a model for football at every level.
Watch Smith discuss player safety
Given that commitment, I acknowledge that the Players Union in the past has not done its best in this area. We will do better. To men like John Mackey and Brent Boyd and to the families of Mike Webster and Andre Waters, and other players that suffered and continue to suffer daily, I commit and we commit to this as our mission. We will not fail them or their families.
Between 2000 and 2008, there were hundreds of studies highlighting this issue. I believe that the NFL MTBI Committee has reviewed many of them. Unfortunately, the NFL diminished those studies, urged the suppression of the findings and for years, moved slowly in an area where speed should have been the impetus. But as we learn more about this issue, one thing becomes clear: the days of denigrating, suppressing, and ignoring the medical findings must come to an end.
We need to share relevant information, embrace expert researchers and collectively find the right answers.
The game of football is America’s passion; it is often discussed, analyzed and debated 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And the discussions focusing on the business of football are becoming increasingly popular. Fans of our great game are fully aware that the players and the owners are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement and that much of player health and safety will be discussed in that process. Our players, our fans and the NFL should also know that we cannot wait until an agreement is signed – or worse, perhaps, a lockout – to begin taking corrective steps today.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of DeMaurice F. Smith.
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