Blog 2 - Interpretation matters a lot!
In this US Open 2009, Serena Williams was said to have threatened to kill the line judge. However, this conversation could only be heard and known clearly by the two of them. Hence, Serena Williams might be accused, but to find out the truth would be quite impossible.
In this case, the line judge might have oversimplified the content and omitted the critical information of Serena Williams' conversation to her. Thus, this led to a huge uproar amongst the judges. Serena Williams might have used some harsh words but not to the extent of "I will kill you!". Who knows? This might just be a made-up by the line judge. Also, with Serena Williams pointing her racket at the line judge in such an angry manner, which is an example of a nonverbal cue, one would based on their past experiences that her words might relate to something very unpleasant which further influenced their selection process of information. Hence, this had undoubtedly led to the judges' beliefs that Serena Williams did threatened the line judge with "I will kill you!".
Personally, I felt that it was unwise of Serena Williams to point her racket at the line judge. Firstly, this would most probably led to others' misconception that Serena Williams mentioned some harsh words, thus, it would be difficult to save herself from all the accusations. However, I understand that she might have hated herself for all the mistakes she had been making in this most important match of this game, the final round. Also, with the foot fault on the second serve which caused her to be a step towards losing the set, it was understandably that she would be in a very foul mood. Needless to say, It would be a totally different story if Kim Clijsters did this action as she is known to be a less-of-a-temper lady. People and other judges might just forgive her and give her another chance. Unfortunately, Serena Williams had portrayed a fierce image and foul temper whenever she lost or made mistakes in the past, for several matches.
At the end of the day, it boils down to interpretation of the situation by different people. Interpretation is very subjective and can lead to a very problematic issue just like this case.
posted by charlenetan at
6:22 AM
17 Comments:
Obviously, our tennis star here is still a greenhorn in displaying appropriate behaviour during competitions. This can cause the line judges and spectators alike to 'select' her bad attitude instead of her tennis skills.
Serena, I hope you have learnt your lesson.
I like feisty people!
I wouldnt offend them though. Haha!
Displaying of our emotions like this, no doubt is the most effective way (verbal and NON verbal communications) to let others know of our displeasure, but not the best way.
Others may intepret it wrongly. Haha!
I was surprised and disappointed when I first heard about what happened during Serena Williams' game during the US open. Sure, she was angry and frustrated, but seriously, has all her years as a professional tennis player taught her nothing? Her actions and words caused her this downfall, and this one moment in time would put a bad record in her name for as long as she continues to play. Everyone would have formed a perception of Williams' being a hot-headed and non-sporting player.
I hope she would be more sensible the next time, and not flush all her hard work down the drain.
Clouds: yes I agree with you. Williams never learns her lesson, does she? What matter most perhaps is her tennis skills and nothing more matters to her, I believe.
Yen Ling: Who will in the right mind wants to offend feisty people when it is obvious that he will only incur conflicts? It is just so silly for those who think without acting although many a time it is uncontrollable, and only by doing so, people will know what we want of them. It is just so sad, isn't it?
Audrey: This perhaps just show that she isn't that professional afterall. Perhaps this is the upbringing by her parents, thus, she did not really think much when she portrayed her displeasure onto the line judge. In today's world, nothing less than a perfection is accepted, same goes for Williams here. Hence, I agree with you that her words and actions may acutally bring about her downfall.
This is a great relief to me since I am not a fan of her.
Kim Clijsters all the way! :D
This comment has been removed by the author.
Well, indeed sometimes people's interpretation of a present situation may be affected by experiences from the past. Thus causing the interpretation to be biased at times. But when many present interpretated the same situation the same way, there is a higher possibility that the interpretation is accurate
Karen: yes this is so true. However, people cant escape from relying on their past experiences to judge the situation. If they are unsure, they can only rely on others who might be inaccurate too. :)
interpretation do play a big role in a situation whereby people are not aware of what really goes on. thus, based on Serena Williams' behaviour-pointing line judge, i do agree that people will interprate that she did threaten line judge somehow. also, i strongly agree that interpretation is really subjective. i do believe that somehow such situation would still happen in future or in our daily life.
chuwen: Who will ever think whether their actions are right when they are in a bad temper? Unfortunately, it is only a few.
Serene has always been a diva both in and out of court. It's no surprise that she would behave like this and be accused of such threats. I believe even if she say the exact words of threat she's being accused of, her actions and foul-mouthed reputation ain't doing her any good too. After so many years of playing professional tennis, one would think she would have learnt to keep her temper in check during the games. I guess not.
Christopher: Basically Serena Williams is a daring lady. She just loves her game!
i think misinterpretation can cause a lot of problems. Serena might have been in a bad mood after her mistake in court and unknowingly threatened the line judge in her rashness. However, having seen many matches, the judge should have encountered similar situations before and interpreted based on his past experience that Serena did not mean what she said and that things were not so serious, but he interpreted the other way. Well, the assumption would be that Serena did say "I will kill you!". In my opinion, i think it might have been a made-up by the judge to gather attention on himself and/or the match.
As a professional player and a player with many experiences, she should know the rule by heart already.She should not vent her temper at the judge when she met difficulty in winning the game.Through her action,from my opinion,i think she was definitely not saying something good to the judge.The judge opinion may infer something that Serena is trying to kill her. We do not know about the details of the conversation either. However, to an outsider, it look like Serena has the higher chance of saying the words as she was venting her temper.Therefore,through her action, it is easy to misinterpret the problems and because of that Serena could not continue the game at all.
Hey Hui! Thanks for your comment!Yes, I totally agree with you! Serena obviously doesnt use her brains much but brawn only right? A daring but tactless move, I must say. Anyway, she is used to bad reputation already, so what's the difference?
Hey Yu Han! Thanks for your comment! Well, although your opinion differ from mine, I agree with you too. This is very likely to happen. What actually happens and who the judge chooses to side with, cannot be checked; only by the parties involved. Hence, misinterpretation can really ruin one's reputation.
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