Serena Williams Australian Open Loss Caused By Linesperson Error?

In 2018, Serena Williams’ controversial meltdown during the US Open women’s singles final against Naomi Osaka was probably the most talked about event in tennis. The American’s tantrums and branding of the chair umpire as sexist started debates among current and former players.

In 2019, Williams has again given the tennis world one of the biggest talking points after losing to Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open despite holding a 5-1 lead in the final set and having four match points.

The 23-time women’s singles Grand Slam champion was leading 5-1 in the third set and serving at 40-30, and it is certain that there was no one that would have claimed that she could lose the match. Even Pliskova admitted after that her mind was already in the locker room.

But it was not to be, a foot fault and a rolled ankle saw Williams’ match unravel. She was broken in three consecutive service games as Pliskova grew from strength to strength and eventually won the match 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Williams refused to blame the ankle knock she suffered while serving for the match, nor did she admit to choking. She simply praised her opponent and suggested that Pliskova played the best tennis of her life.

Williams has a large fan following considering she is widely regarded among the greatest tennis players of all time, and they are loyal to a fault. There continues to be outrage about her loss with many blaming the line referee, who called a foot fault on her first serve at 40-30, 5-1 in the third – it was an ace.

“On match point, really?! The linesman lost the match for Williams. She hit an ace on match point. You can’t call a foot fault at that stage of the match if you haven’t been consistent with the call entire the match. Her opponent started walking to the net. Williams was robbed!” one fan wrote after the game alongside a video.

Former American tennis professional Pam Shriver, who is a broadcaster with ESPN, seemed to share the same view as she questioned the linesperson’s judgment to call the match’s first foot fault when Williams was serving for a place in the semi-final.

“You could not imagine or script how the last two majors have ended for Serena! How can the 1st foot fault of the match be called on 27th game on 1st match point? How can an ankle roll occur in next rally? Pliskova despite losing 9 of 11 games was ready to take second chance,” Shriver wrote.

The Ticket host Dan Leach is certain the foot fault call will be remembered forever, he wrote: “CAN'T believe that Serena lost that match...... That foot fault on match point will be remembered forever.”

However, multiple video replays of the foot fault incident were viewed but it remained inconclusive owing to the lack of clarity in the video. It does show the American’s foot close to the line, but the margin of error in a very fine line when it comes to a foot fault. But to Williams’ credit, she moved on without voicing her opinion to the linesperson.

Meanwhile, seven-time major winner John McEnroe feels Williams did choke in the final moments of her game against Pliskova. The women’s former world number one is desperate to equal Margaret Court’s all-time Grand Slam title record (24 titles) and has come close on two occasions – runners-up at Wimbledon and US Open - since returning after giving birth to her daughter in 2018.

"As you get older, you realise you have less opportunity to maybe pull this off. So you put more pressure on yourself," McEnroe told Channel Nine, as transcribed by Sporting News. "It looked like at the end, the pressure, which is - very rare, I didn't think I would be saying this - but the pressure of the moment got to her a bit. [It's] a little bit of choking, yeah. Let's face it, they're all human beings."