Venus Williams Penalized After Beads Fall On Court; Loses In Australian Open Quarterfinal

Jet, Feb 15, 1999

Tennis professional Venus Williams, famous for sporting her beaded braids on the tennis court, lost a point at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, when her beads caused a "disturbance" by falling onto the court.

Williams complained to the umpire that he was splitting hairs when he called a let (a stroke in tennis that is invalid and must be repeated) in mid-rally the first time a strand of beads flew from her head and scattered on the court.

But when it happened again a few points later and the umpire penalized her a point for causing a "disturbance," Williams voiced her anger. The lost point cost her a service game and put her behind 3-0 in the second set.

Fighting back tears, with her voice quavering, she argued and screamed as her remaining beads bounced and clattered on the tennis court.

"There's no disturbance," she shouted at umpire Denis Overberg. "No one's being disturbed."

"I can't guess if it's disturbing your opponent," Overberg replied.

She demanded to take her case to referee Peter Bellenger.

But Bellenger backed up the umpire, noting that a player may be given a warning and then penalized a point for dropping anything worn.

The rule is usually applied only to a garment like a cap, which is large enough to be seen by an opponent.

Williams has shed her tiny beads on courts before, but no umpire had ever penalized her. Ball boys or girls simply picked up the beads and play went on.

"I don't think it was a fair call," said Williams, who drew boos from the crowd when she refused to shake hands with the umpire.

Lindsay Davenport, her opponent, gained the upper hand earlier in the match, and Williams eventually was defeated in that quarterfinals match 6-4, 6-0.