--- title: Serena Williams Makes Reporter Apologize at Australian Open description: Following her defeat of Lucie Safarova at the Australian Open, Serena Williams didn't appreciate one reporter's criticism of her play. canonical: https://time.com/4639659/serena-williams-makes-reporter-apologize/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-19T22:57:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:53.907Z og:title: Serena Williams Make This Reporter Apologize is the Ultimate Queen Move og:description: "That wasn't very kind" og:url: https://time.com/4639659/serena-williams-makes-reporter-apologize/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Serena Williams Make This Reporter Apologize is the Ultimate Queen Move twitter:description: "That wasn't very kind" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Serena Williams Make This Reporter Apologize in The Ultimate Queen Move ## Video: Serena Williams on Her Biggest Influence [Watch (HLS stream): Serena Williams on Her Biggest Influence](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zdwprGtE.m3u8) (0:58)  _Published 2014-04-24. Serena Williams talks about the importance of family._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 19, 2017 10:57 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 19, 2017 10:57 PM UTC Following her defeat of [Lucie Safarova](http://time.com/4032051/serena-williams-us-open-grand-slam/) in straight sets in the second round of the [Australian Open](http://time.com/4198404/2016-australian-open-tennis-tournament-faces/) Thursday, [Serena Williams](http://motto.time.com/4637497/serena-williams-engaged-reddit/) didn’t appreciate one reporter’s criticism of her play. After the moderator opened the floor for questions during her post-match press conference, Williams shut down comments from the first reporter called on, who dubbed her performance “scrappy” and full of unforced errors. “I think that’s a very negative thing to say,” she responded. “Are you serious?” The tennis superstar then went on to ask if he wanted to apologize, which he quickly did. “Thank you very much,” she said. “That was a great performance. I played well. She’s a former top-10 player. The last time we played together was the finals of a Grand Slam.” > [](https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/822047651319267328) This isn’t the first time Williams has been completely honest with reporters. During a press conference at the 2015 U.S. Open, [she gave a flawlessly candid response](https://www.facebook.com/Squintz83/videos/927719745500/) when asked why she wasn’t smiling after her victory over sister Venus Williams. 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