Serena says emotions got better of her
Tennis: Serena Williams says her emotions got the best of her when she berated the chair umpire during her loss to Sam Stosur in the U.S. Open final.
“My emotions did get the best of me this past weekend when I disagreed with the umpire,” Williams tweeted Wednesday. “It has been a long road to get back to the U.S. Open this year, and I am thankful to have had such a great two weeks in New York.”
Williams’ tweet came two days after she was cited for a code violation and fined $2,000 for verbally abusing chair umpire Eva Asderaki.
Facing a break point while serving in the first game of the second set Sunday night, Williams hit a forehand that she celebrated with a yell of “Come on!” Asderaki applied the hindrance rule, noting the scream came while Stosur reached out and got a racket on the ball.
Asderaki awarded the point to Stosur.
That set Williams off on a series of insults directed at the official, reminiscent of her tirade on the same court when she berated and brandished her racket at a line judge who called a foot fault in the 2009 semifinal against Kim Clijsters.
Stosur stunned Williams 6-2, 6-3 Sunday, winning her first Grand Slam title.
Sounders unbeaten in CONCACAF
Soccer: Fredy Montero scored both of Seattle’s goals and the Sounders scored a 2-1 win over host Herediano of Costa Rica in a CONCACAF Champions League group match.
Seattle is the only unbeaten and untied team in group play and moved closer to reaching the quarterfinals with nine points.
Montero scored in the fourth and 54th minutes.
The teams will meet again the fourth round of group play at CenturyLink Field in Seattle on Tuesday.
Federal fraud charges for Schlichter
Football: Former Ohio State and NFL quarterback Art Schlichter has been charged in federal court with fraud linked to a million-dollar ticket-selling scheme.
Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus allege Schlichter deceived people by promising sports tickets at low prices based on his contacts.
The documents say Schlichter didn’t provide the tickets and used the money he was paid for personal expenses, to gamble and to repay older debts.
Schlichter’s professional football career was derailed by a gambling addiction, and he went to prison for gambling-related crimes.
NBA players ponder what’s next
Basketball: Billy Hunter hoped to deliver good news when he meets with NBA players today.
But no progress was made toward ending the 21/2-month lockout during a meeting with owners Tuesday, and Hunter might have to tell players to look elsewhere if they want to be paid to play basketball anytime soon.
“There are a lot of guys, many marquee players now, who have offers to go outside the country. And the question is, what do they do?” Hunter said. “I mean, do they hold off making the decision, or do they wait in hopes that we get a deal in place sometime in the immediate future?”
Hopes of that diminished after Tuesday’s meeting between the union’s executive committee and the owners’ labor relations committee ended with the sides still divided over the salary cap system, despite a hint of economic compromise.
Players might be considering overseas alternatives now more than ever.
“As time passes, guys are going to definitely defect, and you won’t be able to find the same combination of skill and talent and character that the 450 of us NBA players possess,” NBPA vice president Maurice Evans of the Wizards said. “You’re not just going to go out and find that at random to replace this product; that should definitely be noted.”
• J.R. Smith signs to play in China: J.R. Smith is the second Denver Nuggets free agent to sign a contract to play in China this season.
By doing so, Smith won’t be able to return to play in the NBA if there is a 2011-12 season as the Chinese Basketball Association has told players they won’t be able to opt out of their deals to return to the NBA.