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Serena Williams: ‘I don’t think about ‘09 tirade’

NEW YORK (AP) — Chuckling and rolling her eyes, Serena Williams dismissed questions Monday about her tirade at a line judge over a foot-fault call at the end of her loss in the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals.

The 29-year-old American is back at the Grand Slam tournament for the first time since that infamous outburst during a match against eventual champion Kim Clijsters. Williams missed last year’s U.S. Open after having surgery on her right foot.

Williams played coy at first during a pre-tournament news conference Monday when she was asked what she remembers most from the way her last U.S. Open ended and how “that controversial episode” might have affected the public’s perception of her.

“You mean in the singles or doubles?” Williams asked.

Then she added: “I just remember I lost, and that was that. I got really popular. A lot of people were telling me they thought I was super cool, that they never saw me so intense. So, yeah, it was awesome.”

Asked whether she learned anything from what happened in 2009, Williams replied: “I don’t know. I don’t think about it. Are you still thinking about it?”

She rolled her eyes as she continued: “Oh, my God. That was, like, two years ago. This is, like, two years later.”

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