By Doug Smith, USA TODAY
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Richard Williams said Sunday that the predominantly white tennis crowd that angrily booed him and his superstar daughters Venus and Serena last week in Indian Wells, Calif., was fueled in part by racism.
"When Venus and I were walking down the stairs to our seats, people kept calling me ******," Williams said. "One guy said, 'I wish it was '75; we'd skin you alive.' That's when I stopped and walked toward that way. Then I realized that (my) best bet was to handle the situation non-violently. I had trouble holding back tears. I think Indian Wells disgraced America."
Breaking a weeklong silence in the wake of media reports accusing the sisters of fixing matches, Williams said other players and the media's persistent questioning of his integrity — and that of his daughters — disturbs him. He denied that he ordered his daughters to lose matches to one another and vowed never to return to the Southern California event. Venus and Serena said Sunday that they hadn't decided if they would return. "This country has a history of treating minorities badly, and that's sad because it is a country of promise," Venus said.
The Williams sisters and their father were harshly booed while Serena played Kim Clijsters after Venus, citing a knee injury, withdrew from a semifinal clash with Serena moments before the match was to have started. Indian Wells tournament director Charles Pasarell said he was embarrassed for Serena and humiliated by the crowd's reaction. "I was cringing when all that stuff was going on," Pasarell said. "It was unfair for the crowd to do that."
On the racial taunting, Pasarell said, "If Richard says someone yelled something, maybe they did, but I know that's not Indian Wells people."
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Richard Williams said Sunday that the predominantly white tennis crowd that angrily booed him and his superstar daughters Venus and Serena last week in Indian Wells, Calif., was fueled in part by racism.
"When Venus and I were walking down the stairs to our seats, people kept calling me ******," Williams said. "One guy said, 'I wish it was '75; we'd skin you alive.' That's when I stopped and walked toward that way. Then I realized that (my) best bet was to handle the situation non-violently. I had trouble holding back tears. I think Indian Wells disgraced America."
Breaking a weeklong silence in the wake of media reports accusing the sisters of fixing matches, Williams said other players and the media's persistent questioning of his integrity — and that of his daughters — disturbs him. He denied that he ordered his daughters to lose matches to one another and vowed never to return to the Southern California event. Venus and Serena said Sunday that they hadn't decided if they would return. "This country has a history of treating minorities badly, and that's sad because it is a country of promise," Venus said.
The Williams sisters and their father were harshly booed while Serena played Kim Clijsters after Venus, citing a knee injury, withdrew from a semifinal clash with Serena moments before the match was to have started. Indian Wells tournament director Charles Pasarell said he was embarrassed for Serena and humiliated by the crowd's reaction. "I was cringing when all that stuff was going on," Pasarell said. "It was unfair for the crowd to do that."
On the racial taunting, Pasarell said, "If Richard says someone yelled something, maybe they did, but I know that's not Indian Wells people."
Sounds like a little more is going on than that.
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