Serena slapped with $82,500 fine

Serena Williams was fined a record $82,500 for her tirade at a U.S. Open line judge and could be suspended from that tournament if she has another "major offense" at any Grand Slam in the next two years.

Grand Slam administrator Bill Babcock's ruling was released Monday, and he said Williams faces a "probationary period" at tennis' four major championships in 2010 and '11. If she has another "major offense" at a Grand Slam tournament in that time, the fine would increase to $175,000 and she would be barred from the following U.S. Open.

Babcock said Williams is handing over $82,500 right now to the Grand Slam committee, already far more than the previous highest fine for a Grand Slam offense. In 1995, Jeff Tarango stormed off the court at Wimbledon and accused the chair umpire of showing favoritism to certain players in exchange for their friendship. Tarango was fined a total of $43,756, which was reduced to $28,256 on appeal, and barred from Wimbledon the next year.

Williams lashed out at a lineswoman after a foot-fault call at the end of her semifinal loss to eventual champion Kim Clijsters at the U.S. Open in September. It was a profanity-laced, finger-pointing, racket-brandishing display in which Williams approached the official with what U.S. Open tournament director Jim Curley called at the time "a threatening manner."

She earned $350,000 by reaching the U.S. Open singles semifinals, part of her more than $6.5 million in prize money in 2009, a single-season record for women's tennis.

Marion Jones might play in WNBA Disgraced track star Marion Jones is training for a comeback -- in the WNBA.

San Antonio Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes confirmed Monday that Jones has been training with his assistants to possibly play in the WNBA, more than a year after the 34-year-old was released from federal prison for lying about her doping use, an admission that cost her three gold and two bronze medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Jones played college basketball at North Carolina, where she was the starting point guard on the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1994. She told the Times that she hopes to play in Europe this winter and in the WNBA next season.

Auto racing: Danica Patrick signed a three-year contract extension with Andretti Autosport, a deal that could pave the way for the open-wheel star's desired foray into NASCAR. Patrick and team owner Michael Andretti announced the deal Monday, after Andretti finished the restructuring of his team last week. The IRL deal done, Patrick might be free to turn her attention to stock cars, where she could run a limited Nationwide Series schedule. ... Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson donated $922,000 in education grants to school districts in California, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Soccer: Ireland asked FIFA to be allowed into the World Cup as an extra team after Thierry Henry's handball helped France eliminate Ireland in a playoff. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the Irish have asked to be let into the 2010 tournament in South Africa as a 33rd team. FIFA will discuss the request at a meeting of its executive committee Wednesday.

Speedskating: Short-track skater J.R. Celski has no doubts he will compete at the Vancouver Olympics now that he has returned to the ice from a deep leg gash. The 19-year-old crashed during the U.S. championships Sept. 12, his right skate blade slicing into his left thigh. He skated for the first time since the accident in mid-November.

Marathon: Authorities say two men who collapsed during a half-marathon in Detroit this fall died because of heart problems. The Wayne County medical examiner's office listed cardiac dysrhythmia as the cause of death for both Daniel Langdon, 36, and Jonathan Fenlon, 26. That means they had an irregular or abnormal heart rate. They were two of three runners who died running in the Oct. 18 Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon. An earlier autopsy found that the third man to die, 65-year-old Rick Brown, suffered from heart disease.

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