January 23, 2009
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- A streaker dashed on court while Venus and Serena Williams played doubles Friday at the Australian Open, prancing around before being arrested.
The Williams sisters were working on a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Japan's Ayumi Morita and Germany's Martina Muller when the man, wearing only a shirt, sprinted across the sidelines and made several dance moves before heading toward an exit.
He was met by security guards as he left, arrested and banned for the event. He was not immediately identified. Australian Open officials said the streaker was on the court for 14 seconds.
"The focus of the on-court security team is always on player protection," a statement from tournament officials said. "They are instructed not to chase offenders as their focus at all times must remain on the players. The on-court actions of the security personnel reflected this focus on player protection."
Q. Could you give us an idea what you were thinking yesterday when that streaker came on court.
SERENA WILLIAMS: Okay, I was thinking ‑‑ well, first I saw him jump over and then I noticed he didn't have underwear on. I thought, Okay, I must be seeing things. Then he disappeared, and I was like, Okay, so he's not coming.
And then, uhm, I saw him, and he recovered I guess. He ran out on the court. I was thinking, I hope he doesn't come, because he was pretty close to me and V. I was like, I hope he doesn't come, he's too close.
Then I thought, This is crazy. Doesn't really happen too much. Then I just thought, my eyes, my innocent eyes (smiling).
Q. Were you concerned with the amount of time he was on the court that it took security to do something about it?
SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, I thought he kind of ran off to the sunset on his‑self. So I thought, Wow, maybe he ran to another court, because he kind of left on his own. So it was interesting.
Q. He was on for 30, 45 seconds.
SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know exactly how long. It seemed like a long time. In those type of moments, it seems, you know, really long. But it was weird. It was just like, you know, funny.
And everyone was laughing. I kept thinking, Okay, I got to stay focused. I was really focused on the doubles. Got to get that attitude in singles. |
