Serena Williams Outburst

Serena Williams Outburst

When Serena Williams was dubiously penalised for a foot-fault when two points away from defeat, she could contain herself no longer. She twice unleashed a tirade at the lineswoman and match officials intervened to award a point to her opponent, Kim Clijsters, effectively handing her the match and a place in the US Open final. Earlier, Williams had been reprimanded for smashing her racket on the court.

In a sport where ill temper reached its apogee in the early 1980s antics of John McEnroe - why do there seem to be so many outbursts? Former top British player Andrew Castle says that due to the intensity of the game, all tennis players suffer from bursts of anger that they ultimately have to keep under control. "Most tennis players are just like any fit, young, wound-up people. But controlling your emotions is what training is about, what being a professional is about." Castle says he had been prone to the occasional outburst himself.

"I had a bad temper. I was the most fined player in the world one year," he jokes. But whatever minor outbursts cropped up in tennis, there are other sports with far worse offenders. "Some of the worst things I've seen have come recently in the football Premier League. It's just appalling." In football, players shout at the referee persistently, although using foul language in this way would usually bring a booking. "Any sport is a pressure cooker and I don't think tennis is unique in that," says sport psychologist Craig Mahoney of Northumbria University, who worked for the Lawn Tennis Association for seven years.