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Tennis star Venus Williams just couldn’t seem to catch a break at the French Open. The 34-year-old was beaten on Monday by fellow American Sloane Stephens in the first round of the tournament.  Following the match, she was slapped with a $3,000 fine for skipping a mandatory press conference.

Williams lost 7-6 (5), 6-1 which meant she had failed to qualify for the quarter-finals in Paris. The 15^th seeded at Roland Garros failed to show up to a press conference she was supposed to attend, and instead opted to issue a short statement — something that didn’t sit well with the people at the International Tennis Federation, who later went ahead and announced the decision to fine her.

After Williams hadn’t been announced for a full hour following her match, reporters were told that she had chosen to pass on the conference even after being told she could face a fine for the offense.

This isn’t the first time Williams has been fined for not attending a mandatory media event. In 2010, she and her sister, Serena, were each fined $4,000 after they decided not to show up for the press corps following a Wimbledon doubles match.

After her match with Sloane, Williams admitted that she really wasn’t the better person that day and said, “When you arrive at any tournament, you hope you will have a chance to work your way into the event, but I didn’t have that opportunity. She just played better than me today.”

This is Williams’ second opening defeat in just three years at the Roland Garros, and it is also the fifth time in the last 13 Grand Slam tournaments she’s participated in that she struck out in the first round. But in her defense, she has been a major champion seven times and was the oldest woman at this years’ meet.

Source: Naturally Moi