Serena labels opponent "a cheat"

By Julien Pretot

PARIS (Reuters) - Serena Williams accused her Spanish opponent of cheating on a controversial point in a 4-6 6-3 6-4 third round defeat of Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez at the French Open on Saturday.

Martinez Sanchez bagged an ill-tempered opening set after breaking in the fifth game with a controversial shot which appeared to have bounced off her arm.

"I didn't think the ball touched her. The ball did touch her 100 per cent on her arm," the American second seed, who will next face Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak, told a news conference.

"The rules of tennis is when the ball hits your body, then it's out of play. You lose a point automatically. So the ball hit her body, and therefore, she should have lost the point instead of cheating.

"I hit that ball rather hard. She knew that ball hit her," she added.

Serena said she asked the umpire to ask Martinez Sanchez if the ball had hit her arm or her racket.

"I said, did you ask her? He said, Well, she's saying that it didn't happen. I looked at her dead in the eye," the 2002 French Open champion said.

"I said, Why? Just be honest if the ball hit you or not. I mean, Hello. It totally hit her. She looked down, and I just have no respect for anybody who can't play a professional game and just be really professional out here."