Racket Abuse: Tennis Scandals, Secrets & Cover-Ups

In 2001, Serena Williams arrived at Indian Wells as one of tennis’s brightest young stars. Days later, she and her family would leave the tournament at the center of one of the most controversial moments in the history of the sport. After Venus Williams withdrew just minutes before a highly anticipated semifinal against Serena, accusations of match-fixing exploded. By the time Serena took the court against Kim Clijsters in the final, the stadium had turned openly hostile. The Williams family later reported racist abuse from spectators, and Serena and Venus would refuse to return to Indian Wells for years. In this episode of Racket Abuse, we examine what happened before the infamous final, the rumors surrounding Richard Williams, the crowd’s reaction, the allegations of racism, the WTA’s response, the long boycott, and Serena’s emotional decision to finally return fourteen years later. It is one of the most complicated and disturbing chapters in Serena Williams’s extraordinary career.

Days before Monica Seles was attacked during a changeover in Hamburg, the warning signs were already beginning to appear. Her assigned security guards reportedly arrived late. A suspicious car followed her party from the stadium. Unidentified spectators appeared at a private practice session. Gunter Parche was an obsessed Steffi Graf fan who blamed Monica Seles for taking the world No. 1 ranking. Here we construct Parche’s movements before April 30, 1993, and examine the security failures that allowed him to get dangerously close to the greatest women’s tennis player in the world. This episode does not focus on the attack itself. Instead, it asks the more disturbing question: What could have prevented the attack on Monica Seles?