Venus Williams has been slammed with a $7500 fine for failing to conduct a one-to-one TV interview at Wimbledon earlier in the week.
The 37-year-old was set to attend the TV interview on Tuesday following her quarter-final win over Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. It is unclear as to why she skipped the interview. Williams’ sister Serena was asked about the situation, but the former world No.1 was unsure of the reason.
“If you want to, you can ask her,” Serena told ESPN. “Yeah, I don’t know. I wasn’t here. In fact, I was watching Telenovela.”
It is not the first time the Williams has skipped a media commitment. In 2015 she received a $3000 penalty at the French Open after failing to talk to journalists after her loss to Sloane Stephens. Then at the 2016 Australian Open she was fined $5000 for skipping her news conference after losing in the first round.
Williams’ fine is not the highest at Wimbledon this year. The current record is held by Bernard Tomic, who was slammed with a $15,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct. Tomic drew criticism after admitting that he used a medical time out to ‘break the momentum’ in the match and said he was ‘bored’ on the court.
All of the fines given to players will be deducted from their prize money earnings at the tournament.
World No.11 Williams will play Garbine Muguruza in the Wimbledon final on Saturday. The American progressed to her 16th grand slam final after defeating Johanna Konta in straight sets. So far the American has dropped only one set in the entire tournament.
“I feel very focused still. There’s still a lot to be done.” Williams said during her press conference on Thursday. “I have one more match that I’d like to, you know, be the winner of. I have to go out
there and take it and play well.”
“I like to take courage in the fact that I’ve been playing well this tournament and this year, and all these moments have led to this.” She added.
Should Williams triumph on Saturday, she would win her sixth title at the tournament and her first since 2008.
