Key Biscayne, Fla. — The father of Venus and Serena Williams said the jeers directed at his family during a tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., were racially motivated.
Richard Williams made the allegations at the Ericsson Open, where his daughters both won fourth-round matches Monday.
The crowd booed the family March 17 after Venus pulled out of her semifinal match against Serena, citing knee tendinitis. The withdrawal sparked a new round of speculation that the result of matches between the sisters is predetermined by their father, which the family denies.
Taunts by the crowd went beyond suspicions of match-fixing, Richard Williams said.
"It's the worst act of prejudice I've seen since they killed Martin Luther King," Williams said. He said that as he and Venus were walking to their seats for the final, about a dozen fans used the racial slur and one spoke of skinning him alive.
Williams said he resisted a temptation to respond. Instead, he said, he watched near tears as fans jeered Serena and cheered when she double faulted en route to a victory over Kim Clijsters. He characterized the crowd as white and wealthy, with all but about a thousand fans in the crowd of 16,000 booing his daughter.
"That's the hardest time in the world I've ever had," Williams said. "I'll never go to Indian Wells again, because I believe that guy would skin me alive."
The sisters advanced to the quarterfinals and remain on course for a sibling showdown in Saturday's final. Serena, seeded fifth, won the first set in 16 minutes and beat No. 11 Clijsters 6-0, 6-2. Venus, seeded third, needed more than two hours and 10 match points to defeat Tathiana Garbin 7-5, 7-6 (2).
Hingis beat Magui Serna 6-3, 6-4. No. 2 Lindsay Davenport defeated No. 13 Sandrine Testud 6-3, 6-1.
In men's play, No. 3 Agassi eliminated David Prinosil 6-1, 6-3.
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