There are people who blatantly cheat and there are others that just take what they can get even if they know it’s wrong.

I see this especially during tournaments, the blatant one being if the ball is even close to the line the opponent calls it out.
The less blatant one is knowing that you served long and getting the point if your opponent did not call it (happened to me when I couldn’t track the first serve zooming past the box).

Honestly though in a situation like that I probably would have taken the point (I’m usaully honest, but I get quite angry when I’m hit).

Kudos for Serena for not letting it get to her, eventually winning the match.

That’s exactly what I was looking for.

Maria Jose reacted very emotionally since she was basically under attack and was actually physically hurt. She just wanted revenge and if the umpire awarded her the point, she took it – especially if this was a break point.

This was also one of the biggest matches of her life and she would definitely take anything she could get – one way or another. In the end, it’s the umpire’s responsibility to make calls, not hers.

Was she cheating? Well, if you sit in a couch watching TV, then your judgment is of course right – she was cheating.

But if you were in a match of your life and someone physically attacked you, you’d want to hit back – especially if you are a fighter like all top players are. (That’s how they became top players.)

I believe most players would not admit this in this case where the opponent had the chance to pass left or right but chose to attack and play straight to the body. That’s not very sportsmanship either so if that player then accuses you of cheating it’s quite hypocritical…

Both players were in the fight and did everything within the rules; Serena can play the ball anywhere, even to the body, and Maria Jose accepted the umpire’s call, even when she knew it was wrong.

Here’s a link of the shot on youtube.

It’s opened an interesting discussion about the issue of sportsmanship and fairgame for tennis both at the highest level and at the club level. Maybe you can write an article about it. Interested to see what you have to say : )