Racquet Smash Was 'Legendary', Admits Serena Williams
Serena Williams' racquet bore the brunt of her frustrations during the first set against Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, when she repeatedly battered it on the floor to leave it a mangled wreck.
Serena Williams called her racquet smash "legendary" but insisted she wasn't proud of losing her cool after she fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Finals title match on Saturday.
Williams' racquet bore the brunt of her frustrations during the first set against Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, when she repeatedly battered it on the floor to leave it a mangled wreck.
It brought to mind some of the best remembered incidents of racquet destruction including Fernando Gonzalez, Andy Roddick and Marcos Baghdatis at the 2012 Australian Open.
But the fit of pique may have made the difference as the world number one won the second set and took the match on a third-set tie-breaker to reach the Singapore final 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).
"I don't know how many times I hit it, but boy, that racquet will never do me wrong again, I tell you," the defending champion said.
"It was definitely legendary. I kind of lost my cool a little bit. I thought, well, at least you know I'm passionate. I give 200 percent. When I play, doesn't matter how I feel, I'm going to give everything I have for every shot and every point.
"I'm not the kind of girl that goes out there and just plays through the motions and just doesn't care whether I win or lose. I give everything.
"Then the fans were so into it. I just kept letting them down. I was like, 'This racquet here is...' It bit the dust, so to say. I'm not proud of it."
Despite a thrilling match in front of a packed house in Singapore, Williams refused to celebrate her win over a close friend with whom she took selfies and sang along at a Mariah Carey concert on Friday.
It was her fourth win against Wozniacki this year, including the US Open final and matches in Montreal and Cincinnati which also went to three sets.
"I didn't give a massive fist pump. I really wanted to cry because Caro is so nice we get along and we do so much together. Yeah, it was really kind of difficult," Williams said.
"But, you know what I really love about our relationship is we really play each other on the court incredibly hard. So, so, so, so, so hard. And then we just try to put it aside out of the court.
"But I didn't feel great about it, to be honest. She's like my little baby sister -- from a different mother and father, and different country."