"White tennis could not handle the Williams sisters" - Tennis fans recall atrocious line calls that led to Serena Williams' QF defeat at US Open 2004

Serena Williams had to deal with several unsavory incidents, especially during the early years of her career, which included the infamous racist taunts at the 2001 Indian Wells Open as well as bizarre line calls during the quarterfinals of the 2004 US Open.

A series of crucial points that went against the third seed in New York contributed to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat against Jennifer Capriati even as Williams confronted the chair umpire, who remained unmoved despite replays confirming the erroneousness of her line calls.

The advent of Twitter in 2006 allowed millions around the world to collectively share and debate on-court events, prompting one fan to question whether the 2004 US Open could indeed have been canceled had it been played during an era when the microblogging platform existed.

"The 2004 US Open would have been cancelled after these line calls if we had had Twitter back then"

One tennis fan was of the opinion that contentious matches such as the 2004 US Open quarterfinals robbed Williams of the opportunity to add to her Grand Slam tally, which is currently the highest of any player, male or female, in the Open Era.

"Only Hawkeye or the challenge system could have changed this. Another example of why she always felt an extra burden on her shoulders when playing the US Open. Her record should be 23+ titles for matches like these where she was robbed. She had a winning H2H against the finalists"

Fans remain convinced that the umpiring was carried out in a manner to ensure that Serena Williams lost.

It was during the all-important decider that a flurry of howlers from chair umpire Mariana Alves led to the American star getting flustered. Hawkeye was soon introduced by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) as a result of everything that went wrong, as many on social media recalled.

Here are a few more fan reactions:

The absence of Twitter prevented a possible mass uproar that could have made life difficult for the tournament organizers, who, to their credit, did ensure that the umpire who officiated the stormy encounter played no further part in the tournament.

The fierce Serena Williams-Jennifer Capriati rivalry

Williams and Capriati alongside Victoria Azarenka

Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati played against each other 17 times between 1999 and 2004. Interestingly, both the Americans were coached by Rick Macci during the early stages of their careers.

After winning the first-ever encounter against Capriati at the 1999 German Open in Berlin, Williams slumped to four successive defeats against her senior counterpart before proceeding to turn the tables by registering eight wins on the trot between 2001 and 2003.

An unforgettable contest between the two phenomenal talents was witnessed at Roland Garros during the 2002 French Open semifinals, where Capriati, the defending champion, lost 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 after a grueling battle.

Jennifer Capriati, who became a top 10 player at the age of 14, ended her career having won a total of three Grand Slam titles while also managing to get the better of Serena Williams on seven occasions (10 losses).