Serena Williams says she does not remember what she said to Jelena Jankovic after their semifinal match in Rome.
Williams held up her hand when receiving serve at 5-3 up in the third set and the umpire ordered the point replayed, drawing protests from Jankovic. When the two shook hands after Jankovic won the match, Williams whispered something into the Serb's ear that was not entirely picked up by courtside microphones but appeared to be, "Don't think I would do that... I'm not Justine."
"I don't even remember that. I just remember I had a match point, and, oh, I should have won that match," Williams said when speaking to reporters ahead of the French Open. "I was really disappointed... Jankovic is a really good clay court player, so I felt like, you know, I can't take anything negative out of that. I was just really like, 'Ah, I was really oh so close.'
The comment at net, if correctly interpreted, was a reference to the 2003 French Open semifinal between Williams and Justine Henin. Henin held up her hand while Williams was serving and the umpire, who did not see the gesture, refused to allow Williams another first serve. Henin did not tell the umpire about the hand at the time and Williams afterwards accused Henin of "lying and fabricating."