It’s fair to say that Serena Williams is one of the most successful players to ever step on the tennis court. She has won 23 singles Grand Slam titles in addition to 14 doubles and two mixed doubles Major titles.
Her prowess on the tennis court is simply unparalleled by other individuals, as what she has achieved can only be dreamed of. However, her illustrious career has been filled with numerous controversies too. She has been the favorite child of controversy, from blasting chair umpires to Match-fixing accusations.
Hence, one of the major controversies took place when she lost against Sofia Kenin in the third round of the 2019 Roland Garros. During the post-match press conference, she reportedly asked the Austrian tennis player, Dominic Thiem to ‘wrap up’ his interview early.
Williams’s campaign at the 2019 French Open ended quite early as Dominic Thiem reached the final of the clay-court Major, where he lost against the likes of 14-time Roland Garros champion, Rafael Nadal.
“It is just the principle. Even if a junior is in there, every player has to wait. It also shows a bad personality in my opinion. I am 100 percent sure (Roger) Federer or (Rafael) Nadal would never do something like that,” said Thiem.
Afterward, the former World No. 3 called out the 23-time Singles Grand Slam winner for having a ‘bad personality’. He also stated that if Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal were in her place, they would have never done something like that.
What did Serena Williams say about Dominic Thiem’s press conference getting cut short?
Williams was knocked out in the third round of the 2019 French Open while Dominic Thiem made it to the finals. Thus, he had plenty of time to talk about the 14-time Doubles Grand Slam champion. However, Williams didn’t take long to reply to the ‘bad personality’ accusations.
I asked them to put me in the small room. I begged them to put me in the small room, and they didn’t. I said, ‘Listen, I can come back. I’m just going to go back. They were like, ‘No, stay here’.” Williams said.
Williams stated that she even asked to wait so Thiem could get done with his post-match interview. However, the officials pulled the former World No. 3 out. Williams also stated that she felt that they were being really rude to Dominic Thiem.
“They pulled him out. I was like, ‘You guys are so rude to do that’, quote-unquote, that’s what I said. The next day I had a bad personality. Literally, that’s what happened.” Williams concluded.
Serena Williams also stated that she has always liked the Austrian tennis player and he is a great player. However, she also said that she failed to understand what she did wrong to get called a ‘bad personality’.
