Venus Williams tells umpire ‘I can’t control God’ during tough loss
Not even her sister Serena could have helped her in this doubles match.
Tennis star Venus Williams credited her opponent Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and The Man Upstairs with her Monday defeat at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma. The 40-year-old athlete made her sarcastic remark to an umpire who assessed her with a time violation as she waited for winds to die down so she could serve the ball.
“If the wind blows, then I can’t hit the ball,” she said. “I can’t control God, I can’t control the wind. I’m just saying that if the wind blows, there is nothing I can do about that.”
Williams then pointed to the sky above to make her appeal.
“Talk to Him,” Williams told the ump before walking away and getting back to the match at hand.
As it turned out, Williams couldn’t control Schmiedlova, either. She lost in three sets to the 125th ranked Slovakian, who is 14-years her junior. Williams’ top-seeded sister Serena could have used some divine intervention at that same tournament, where she went down in defeat to Katerina Siniakova in straight sets Tuesday.
