Serena Rises Above Crowd

INDIAN WELLS —  The laid-back, too-cool-to-really-care Tennis Garden changed personality Saturday, morphing into another famous sports facility a few thousand miles away.

On Saturday, the previously sedate Tennis Garden became a boisterous Madison Square Garden. The miraculous metamorphosis unfolded just after 2 p.m. when Serena Williams walked out on the court for the women’s singles final, serenaded by a soundtrack of loud booing.

Jeers abounded during her warmup and increased when her father, Richard, and older sister, Venus, took a long trip down the stairs to their courtside seats. Venus, who pulled out of her semifinal match against Serena because of knee tendinitis, looked untroubled by the descent.

Every step they took, every move they made was punctuated by noise from the crowd of 15,940. About 60 steps later, it became clear that the fallout from Venus’ controversial last-minute withdrawal Thursday night would not go away.

Serena became the target for the fans’ lasting antagonism. Her mistakes were applauded and the opponent, Kim Clijsters of Belgium, immediately enjoyed a whole new level of crowd support.

Williams withstood the sound and fury after early jitters--as she lost seven of the first eight points--and held off an erratic Clijsters, winning the Tennis Masters Series, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. She had 31 winners to Clijsters’ 10.

Additionally, the controversy was addressed on ESPN with commentator Cliff Drysdale saying on the air that it hurt the tournament as well as the cable network’s coverage. In the stadium, things were unsettled. Richard Williams apparently called for the presence of a security guard a few games into the match.

“At first, obviously, I wasn’t happy,” Serena said. “I won here before. I do well here. It wasn’t the happiest moment for me.

“I don’t think I was mentally ready for that. I just kept missing, hitting harder and harder. Things just weren’t going right for me today. I went over on the changeover and prayed to God just to help me be strong, not to listen to the crowd. Every time I missed a serve or anything, it was a little out of the ordinary.”

Quite likely, the booing was the loudest during a women’s match since Martina Hingis drew the ire of the Parisian fans in the 1999 French Open final against Steffi Graf. There, Hingis became the villain because of her on-court petulance and temper tantrums.

This time, Serena took the brunt of the anger because of Venus’ actions as well as the family’s eroding credibility when it comes to injuries and withdrawals. Not helping the situation was Venus’ comment Thursday about not having enough money to pay back the fans.

Serena said she felt like an innocent bystander.

“I’m just a competitor,” she said. “I mean, how many people do you know go out there and jeer a 19-year-old? Come on, I’m just a kid.”

Serena was the only member of the family talking in the aftermath of a tumultuous few days in which a family member, a nephew, told a supermarket tabloid that Richard had told Serena to lose the Wimbledon semifinal to Venus last year.

Venus refused to talk when approached for comment, nor would Richard. Richard called for a security guard when approached for an interview by the Associated Press, saying: “Get that woman away from me.”

Serena said the matches between herself and Venus were not “rigged.”

“Next thing you know I’m going to going to be pregnant by some Martian,” she said. “Someone told me, ‘You know you’re famous when you make the Enquirer.’ I think I’m famous.

“It’s all not true. It’s really kind of hurtful because it’s just lies, just scandalous lies. Somebody doing that with your own blood, something is dreadfully wrong.”

Serena had one word to sum up this event.

“Chaotic,” she said.

Serena also referred to the crowd reaction during the on-court award ceremony, saying: “ . . . Because you guys were a little tough on me. I’d like to thank you for supporting me and even if you didn’t, I love you guys anyway.”

Clijsters was the forgotten woman, even though she beat the No. 1 player in the world, Hingis, to reach the final. She was one point away from serving for the match in the second set. In the eighth game, trailing 3-4, Serena saved a break point at 30-40, hitting a strong serve. Clijsters mustered a short return, which Serena ripped for a forehand winner.

“It’s hard. In the beginning, the crowd was very loud, even when she missed a first serve, they were clapping,” Clijsters said. “It’s not her fault. She’s still a tennis player, a very nice person and everything. I don’t think it’s up to the crowd to put pressure on her.”

Clijsters did feel as though Serena had an advantage by playing one less match.

“She had a few more off days than me,” she said. “She had a few easier matches than I had. Those are small things, small details that can make a difference when you’re playing at the top level.”

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Women’s Box Score

Key statistics from Serena Williams’ victory over Kim Clijsters in Saturday’s women’s final:

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Clijsters Williams First-serve % 56% 52% Aces 2 7 Winners (inc. service) 10 31 Unforced errors 31 43 Break-point conv. 4-6 6-13 Net approaches won 7-14 17-21 Total points won 81 92

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Time of match 1:44

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Women’s Box Score