What a strange US Open it has been…Serena loses her temper and her match, Nadal plays like a dog in semis

The rain threw the US Open out oif whack as it is and things only got wackier when play resumed this weekend.

Before I get to the Serena Williams debacle, first let’s get this news out of the way: Rafael Nadal has just played the worst grand slam semifinal of his career and lost badly to Juan Martin del Potro 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

What. A. Blowout.

Maybe Rafa’s pulled stomach muscle was bothering him or maybe it taking three days to complete his quarterfinal against Fernando Gonzalez sapped him of his fight.

Either day, there will be no Nadal-Roger Federer final. Federer will begin playing Nocak Djokovic in the second semifinal shortly with the men’s final set for tomorrow. I, of course, am rooting for Federer to win and make it to the sixth straight US Open final of his career.

He has never lost in the final there and if he wins the whole thing, he will have won a record 16 grand slam singles titles.

The women’s final is being played later today and will be between two unlikely finalists: former champ Kim Clisters and ninth-seed Caroline Wozniacki. So where is defending champion Serena Williams, the tournament’s heavy favorite? She not only lost her semifinal against Clisters, she lost it after exploding at a lineswoman who called a foot fault on her during a crucial point.

Serena reportedly walked over to her, waving a tennis ball, and said: “I swear to God I’m fucking going to take this fuckng ball and shove it down your fucking throat, you hear that? I swear to God.”

Oh my.

The foot fault call happened as Serena was serving to Cliisters as she was trailing 4-6, 5-6 (15-30). She was two points from defeat but also three points from forcing a tie-breaker that could have evened the match. The foot fault made it match point for Clisters. After the umpire penalized Serena a point because of the tirade, she lost the match because she only had one more points to lose.

Serena said to reporters after the match:  “I didn’t threaten [her]. I don’t remember anymore [what I said], to be honest. I was in the moment. And, you know, everyone’s fighting for every point. It was a really crucial point.”

Asked if the line judge deserved an apology, Williams added: “An apology? From me? Well, how many people yell at linespeople? Players, athletes get frustrated. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen that happen.”

I’ve been watching tennis for nearly three decades and never seen a champion behave this badly at a grand slam tournament. It is a disgrace!

Here is video of the incident: