At first I was going to argue about honor and all that. But then I realized as I writing my reply that this is the way any game is played from high school sports to the pros. Plus it's one call in the course of a long match. I agree Williams should zip it. Wow, I talked myself right out of debating this with you...haha.

Serena has the right to call her a cheater. The ball hit her opponent's arm and she did not have the integrity to admit it.

Yeah Lowel...Like baseball players never complain when the ump makes a bad call..Seriously....Serena had every right to complain..the ref blew the call, plain and obvious...

I agree Serena has a right to complain about the ump but calling your opponent a cheater is bush and well beneath a player of her stature.

First off, it isn't up to a player to admit jack squat. If you get hit by a ball and say, "It hit me.", but the ump says it didn't, the ump's call overrules. End of discussion.

Secondly, it's funny one has mentioned this but Serena going 'ghetto' after the match by saying, "I'm from Compton, you know." in reference to her 'warning' to the ump that Sanchez better not come to the net again was bush as well. What? She'd deliberately try to injure the other player because she was on the wrong end of a bad call? Please. Grow up.

Hi Lowell

Correct, it is the officals call. Still, overall, Serena has not been very controversial.

However, this incident seems personal in some way.

The consistant thing is that over the years tennis has always had charecters & trouble makes.....

......geee, let me guess.......who was that guy who used to throw tantrums and yell at the refs all the time? McEnoe maybe?

Gotta disagree with Lowell on this one. I saw the replays and the ball obviously struck the woman on the arm.
Under the rules, a player who is struck on any part of the body by a ball loses the point.
Unlike many sports, tennis has maintained an self-enforcing system of honesty and integrity. If a ball has been miscalled, even the top players will correct the call even if it means losing the point. Sure, there are abuses. But I have frequently seen championship players correct a call that went in their favor.
This was an egregious mistake by the officials and an even more egregious breach of etiquette by Serena's opponent which led directly to the loss of a key game and the second set.
The previous poster indicated this episode seems somehow personal. I agree. But I also believe Serena was absolutely correct and had every right to be upset.

I agree with Jay Patrick. Tennis is different. Tennis is a one-on-one sport. When we play and are not in a tournament, there is no umpire, and we rely on the integrity of the other player and self-enforce. Serena was absolutely within her right to complain about Sanchez cheating.

Yes, Lowell, tennis is different! You dead wrong and you should say, "Oops I've learned something about tennis!" As previous posters stated, tennis players are supposed to admit it when the ball hits them. There are other instances where they should award their opponents the point, such as when a ball touches their racquets on the way out. Serena's opponent broke the code and is a cheater. It's too bad other sports don't live up to the same standard. It would be great if an outfielder would admit that he trapped a ball or if a basketball player would say, "I fouled him." Somewhere most sports have lost the concept of good sportsmanship.

Curse of Mullin makes an excellent point. Most organized sports, baseball, basketball football, soccer for example, are played with officials. Gone to a youth soccer game? Referees are present. Caught your kindergartner playing hoops in the league at the YMCA? Officials and a scorer. My son played baseball through age 15 and had umpires at every game. In tennis, officials are present only at the highest level of competition. This makes the self-policing of utmost importance to the game's integrity. That's why I believe being struck on the arm by an opponent's shot and winning the point as a result is cheating, deserves to be called out as such and cannot be fairly compared to baseball.

Time for Lowell to man up and apologize for criticizing Serena unfairly. She was dead on right!

I'm getting the impression people are miffed at me for my criticism of Serena Williams. I'm also getting the impression there's a higher level of sportsmanship in tennis than other sports and if you get hit by a ball you admit it. If this is true it's wonderful. Based on what readers have written I apologize to Serena Williams. Would McEnroe have admitted it if a ball hit him?

Lowell