Agency reports
September 13, 2009 06:53PMT

Serena Williams is about to be investigated over an outburst that prompted her exit from the U.S. Open.

Yahoo! Sports revealed yesterday that Williams will be asked to explain her actions toward a female line judge at the end of her semifinal defeat to Kim Clijsters on Saturday night.

A source revealed that representatives from the tennis’ governing body, the International Tennis Federation with members of the Grand Slam Committee, which oversees the four major tournaments were to convene along with U.S. Open referee, Brian Earley yesterday.

The group is expected to review the video footage of the incident, seek clarification from the line judge and most likely hand down a heavy fine to Williams.

A representative from the Women Tennis Association (WTA) Tour is also expected to be included, although the Tour does not have jurisdiction over Grand Slam events.

Williams lost her cool after being called for a foot fault on a second serve while trailing 15-30 and 5-6 in the second set.

Clijsters won the first set 6-4.

Point to Clijsters

The call gave Clijsters a match point, but it was never played as Williams exploded into a verbal tirade at the line judge. According to the Associated Press, Williams screamed at the official, “If I could, I would take this … ball and shove it down your … throat,” Williams said.

The line judge then reported the comments to umpire Louise Engzell, as tournament referee Earley rushed on to the court. Williams was heard to yell again at the line judge, loudly insisting “I didn’t say I would kill you. Are you serious? Are you serious? I didn’t say that.”

A code violation was issued for unsportsmanlike conduct, which indicates that Williams was penalised a point, thereby ending the contest.