Serena Williams fined, given suspended ban
Published:Monday | November 30, 2009 | 5:31 PM
Serena Williams has been fined and given a suspended three-year ban from the US Open for her tirade at a line judge at Flushing Meadows.
The 28 year old American, verbally abused an official after a foot-fault call which gave Kim Clijsters a match point in their semi-final this year.
The world number one will incur the ban if she commits any further major offence before the end of 2011.
In that case, her fine will also double to £106,000.
After the match in September, Williams was fined £6,000 which has been included in the latest penalty of £53,000.
The fine, a quarter of the £212,000 Williams received for reaching the semi-finals, still tops the previous highest Grand Slam fine of £38,000 given to Jeff Tarango in 1995.
After the incident, Williams released an initial statement, which did not include a straight apology, but later said she wanted to sincerely apologize for her behaviour.