Very few tennis players have left a mark like Serena Williams did in her career. Only behind Margaret Court, Serena Williams has the 2nd highest number of Grand Slams among women with 23 titles. The 42-year-old has netted more than $94 million as prize money in her career. However, she has also lost a huge chunk of it throughout her career in fines.
Not only is she one of the greatest, but Serena Williams has also been one of the most controversial tennis stars ever. Her fines throughout her career amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, which includes some big controversies at the Grand Slams.
At the 2009 US Open, where Williams lost to Kim Clijsters 4-6, 5-7, Williams breached the code of conduct with her racket abuse. After that, she committed a ‘foot fault’ which gave Clijsters two points. Williams’ outburst following that included profanities being hurled at the lineswoman, as was picked up on the microphone.
Williams was fined $10,000 plus $500 for racket abuse. She was later levied a heavy fine of $175,000 instead of suspending her from the 2010 US Open. However, she was given a condition that her fine would be reduced to $82,500 if she committed no offense for the next two years. The reduced amount remained.
At the 2011 US Open, Serena Williams was playing against Samantha Stosur, when she committed an offense. Believing to have won a point, Williams shouted “Come On!” in an energy-fueled manner. The chair umpire penalized Williams by giving the point to Stosur based on ITF’s deliberate hindrance rule. Livid with the outcome, since Williams was one serve away from the game point, she made unflattering and obnoxious gestures toward the chair umpire. Williams somehow still managed to not violate her two-year probation period from the 2009 US Open since no profanities were being thrown around. She was still fined $2000.
Next at the 2018 US Open, Serena Williams was triply-fined for three code violations in a single match. She was playing in the finals against Naomi Osaka, which the latter won, and her coach Patrick Mouratoglou gave her coaching hand signals. Williams vehemently denied it and got angry at the umpire for that violation which cost her $4000. This was followed by a second violation when Williams smashed her racket in court, it cost her a point, and fined $3000 for it. She also hurled abuses at the chair umpire, whose fine was $10,000. In total, she was fined $17,000.
There was also a $10,000 fine for once again smashing her racket. Except, this was during her practice session and at Wimbledon, where her racket damaged the grass on the court. That was a big violation.
In total, Williams’s fines, in public knowledge, amounted to $122,000. This could be subject to certain variations given some of the smaller fines which she may or may not have had to pay.
How does Serena and Venus Williams compare to each other in this regard?
Serena Williams has had multiple fines in her career. Four of such big fines for multiple code violations came at the Grand Slams. She has always had a very strong personality, which she repeatedly expressed in multiple interviews. However, even if that might be the reason, it didn’t stop her from being a controversial personality throughout her career. In comparison, her sister Venus Williams was quite tame.
Venus Williams is a champion by herself, winning 7 Grand Slams in her career. Although she didn’t nearly replicate her sister’s success rate, she is still a bonafide legend. She has also maintained a great code of conduct, with only one fine placed in her career. At the 2015 French Open, where she lost to Sloane Stephens in straight sets, she didn’t attend the post-match press conference later. It was the first match of the tournament and losing upset her deeply. For this, Venus Williams had to pay a fine of $3000.
