SERENA WILLIAMS SLAMMED BY JUDGING ERROR... KOREA PROTESTS

Serena Williams was wandering through her quarterfinal match with Jennifer Capriati when chair umpire Mariana Alves made a grievous mistake -- the first of several.

Serving the first game of the third set at deuce, Williams hit a thundering backhand past Capriati, a clear winner. The ball correctly was called good by the lineswoman -- replays showed it barely grazed the inside of the line -- which should have made it advantage-Williams. But the Portugese umpire, on the opposite side of the court, saw the ball out and overruled the call, giving the advantage to Capriati.

When Williams heard the score, she wheeled and started walking toward the umpire's chair.

"No!" Williams shrieked. "No, no, no, no. What's going on? Excuse me? That ball was sooo in. What the heck is this? It was not out. Do I need to speak another language?"

Capriati eventually won the game, and Williams never seemed quite the same. It was the No. 8-seeded Capriati who advanced to the semifinals with a strange and unsatisfying 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory Tuesday night. In the match's final, frenetic game, the No. 3-seeded Williams was clearly wronged by at least three line calls -- and Alves failed to overrule any of them.

Later, the USTA acknowleged the incorrect overrule and tournament referee Brian Earley said that Alves would not officiate another match at the 2004 Open. (full article)

Soon afterwards Korean officials began protesting the poor judging and declared that Alves was too pro-American.

"As with Paul Hamm, these judges only found favor with Capriati. Typical manipulation by Americans within sporting events."

One Korean began protesting by sitting in the middle of a court hours before a doubles matched was scheduled to begin. U.S. Open officials simply removed the man and NYPD escorted him to his dormroom at NYU while no charges were pressed.

Soon after the match local Korean broadcast stations were declaring that the USTA admitted to cheating Capriati's opponent to suppress the development of Koreans throughout the world. This questionable journalism was similar to broadcasts sent out after the Paul Hamm incident a couple weeks ago.

Finally, through a translator, attorneys representing the USTA informed the Korean officials that Serena Williams, Capriati's opponent, was also an American. The Korean officials turned beet red and shouted in unison how the USTA and Americans were lying about the nationality of the "woman who was cheated by Americans." After a few more attempts by the attorneys, the Korean delegation at the U.S. Open stormed out with a few choice battle cries.

"LSAT in Korean is next!..."

"You gave us spam but we gave you kimchi! Unfair trade!...

"Give us Fort Lee!"

(Ok. I was amusing myself. After the "full post" everything is a lie except the reference to the Korean broadcast stations lying about the Olympic committee's response to the judging mistakes)