“The guy said, ‘Hit the net like any Negro would.’ I was shocked”, Williams said. “I could’nt believe it. I had to do a double take. I think I hit a double fault at that point.”
This happened today against her match against Lucie Safarova, which Serena won 6-3, 6-4. The heckler was finally ejected.
“Every time I missed a shot or serve, he would say, ‘That’s the way to do it,” she said. “He was calling, ‘Foot fault’, he was saying ‘Hit in the net’… I mean, who does this? That’s so elementary. You don’t do this on a professional level.”
Serena and Venus have boycotted the Indian Wells tournament, since 2001, when the family was booed after Venus withdrew just before the semi-final match against Serena. Their father, Richard, said those jeers were racially motivated.
