Black umpire claims racial discrimination by USTA

A high ranking umpire has accused the United States Tennis Association of denying him top matches because he is black. Cecil Hollins says he is the only gold-badged American male official in history not to have taken the chair for a singles final at the US Open.

Hollins, who has umpired for 11 years, filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on 23 August accusing the USTA of treating him differently than other similarly-qualified officials because of his race. "I want for all the people who, like me, haven't been treated right to get a fair shake," said Hollins, a New York traffic court judge.

As well as claiming racial discrimination, Hollins alleges that the USTA's treatment is also a retaliation for his attempts to organise a union for American tennis officials who have grievances.

On arriving at the National Tennis Center to start work last week, Hollins said, he was approached by Richard Kaufman, the USTA's director of officiating. "He said: 'Are you planning on causing a commotion at the US Open?'," Hollins said. "He wanted to talk it out, but I knew talking about it wasn't going to help."

Hollins said he had not officiated at a match on any of the US Open's show courts (Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadiums, and Grandstand Court) since 1998, until last Saturday, when he was given a last-minute assignment for a men's doubles match on Grandstand. He had originally been selected to to work only only until Friday.

"I went in on Friday to say goodbye and they told me: 'Oh, you're last day is tomorrow'," Hollins said. "Then I got assigned a match on the Grandstand. Is that a coincidence?"

Serena Williams, the first player to advance to the quarter-finals of the women's singles, made no comment about her stalker, Albrecht Strohmeyer, from Frankfurt, in her post-match interview after defeating Daja Bedanova, of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-1, on Sunday night. A WTA official prefaced the 20-year-old Wimbledon champion's press conference with a statement that "Serena will not be addressing any questions related to the stalker incidents due to legal and security reasons".

Williams' father, Richard, was more forthcoming. Having said he did not think Serena was as worried about the situation as he was, he underlined his fears: "I don't think the guy is ever going to give up. At some point something very tragic could take place."

Asked if his words might be construed as a threat, he said: "Would [anything] stop me from killing this guy if he did something to one of my daughters? I do not think all the police officers in the world could stop me."

The locker rooms were busier than the courts again yesterday as rain delays provoked a suggestion that Flushing Meadows ought to be renamed Wimbledon West. Alan Mills, the Wimbledon referee, who is assisting in the referee's office here, could make a case for calling Wimbledon Flushing Meadows East.

Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman were marking time, anxious to get on with their third-round matches. Rusedski, the British No 2, almost managed to complete the opening set against Pete Sampras before the rain returned washing out play for the night on Sunday. Rusedski held two set points when serving at 5-3, but Sampras managed to break for 5-4.

At times like this it is good to have an old timer like Andre Agassi around to reminisce about the sport, having played every champion from Jimmy Connors to Lleyton Hewitt. Who, he was asked, was the toughest competitor?

"I think [Ivan] Lendl at his best probably had the most discipline in his concentration level," the 32-year-old Las Vegan replied. "Jimmy [Connors] knew how to concentrate at the right time. Again, it was very important to him that everybody thought that he was competitive on every point, because he would get upset if he was not really on top of his game during periods in a match, and then he would settle down and be focused.

"Lendl was just a train. There was no upsetting what he we was doing. Regardless what the score was, he was going to bring a hard work ethic from the first point to the last. Jimmy didn't have the luxury of being a strong guy. He was always trying to be efficient with where he spent his energies on the court. Lendl used his physical and mental toughness really well. I'd probably give him the edge."

* Andre Agassi's three victories at the US Open have moved him into second place in the ATP Champions race. Even if he wins the Open, however, Agassi cannot overtake leader Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt, the defending champion and No 1 ranked player in the world, has 630 points to 444 for Agassi.