With more than 1,200,000 views of one 54-second clip on YouTube alone, it is the abiding minute of the 2009 US Open. Serena Williams held nothing back in a racket-brandishing, expletive-laden tirade at a lineswoman in the women’s singles semi-final last month and the governors of the sport may do likewise with a decision that could have enormous repercussions for the American.

Her penalty is being considered by the ITF, the world governing body, and the world No 2 and winner of 11 grand-slam singles titles has little more than two weeks to give her version of events. The authorities will then decide if what she said and the way she said it merit further action, whether she should be docked the money she earned at Flushing Meadows this year or, most grievous of all, be suspended from one or possibly two grand-slam tournaments.

There is precedent for such a lengthy ban. At Wimbledon in 1995, when Jeff Tarango told Bruno Rebeuh, the French umpire, that he was corrupt, refused to play on and was defaulted from his third-round match against Alexander Mronz, of Germany, (Tarango’s French wife, Benedicte, poured oil on the troubled waters by slapping Rebeuh across the cheek), the American was fined and suspended for two grand-slam tournaments, including the next year’s Wimbledon.

For Williams, against Kim Clijsters, the champion to be, the tipping point came when she was called for a foot fault on a second serve, when trailing 6-4, 6-5, 30-15. Her subsequent rant at the lineswoman who called the fault contained at least four expletives and the threat that Williams would, if she could, “shove this f***ing ball down your f***ing throat and kill you.” As the score had become 40-15, the point penalty awarded against Williams for “an audible obscenity” handed the Belgian her place in the final.

Given that this is deemed a “major offence”, the ITF has received reports from the unnamed lineswoman, Louise Engzell, the umpire, Brian Earley, the tournament referee, and Donna Kelso, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour supervisor. There has been much toing and froing between Williams’s legal team and the international governing body and it now has to be determined whether the player wants to defend herself in person.

Once Bill Babcock, the ITF grand-slam administrator, has heard the evidence — including the full, unexpurgated tape of the tirade — it will be up to him to make a determination on what the punishment should be. That recommendation will go to the four chairmen of the grand-slam events for verification. Williams, 28, would have leave to appeal to an independent tribunal should she not agree with the extent of the punishment.

Opinion has been varied and voluble on the affair. Jon Wertheim, of Sports Illustrated, the American magazine, wrote: “Serena got a very shaky call, but that hardly justified her reaction. She messed up. She apologised, albeit belatedly. She got fined. She took some of her aggression out on Liezel Huber and Cara Black in the doubles final. Not a proud moment for her or for tennis, but let’s move on. If the ITF suspends her or fines her further, it will be a miscarriage of justice.”

One is loath to disagree with such an eminent writer, but Williams’s actions cannot be summarily swept under the carpet. Whether the lineswoman’s call was correct or not, she was there to arbitrate and did so honestly. Such language would not be tolerated in any sport and tennis has a responsibility to protect every official from grass roots up from such a verbal onslaught.

Babcock has a huge call to make, one that will reverberate for many months to come. “Notice of a grand-slam major offence investigation has been given and there will be an opportunity for all the parties to present their views of the incident,” he said.

Rafael Nadal, the men’s No 2, who was beaten in the semi-finals in New York by Juan Martín del Potro, will compete at the China Open in Beijing next week and in the Shanghai Masters the week after. “After long hours of tedious medical exams, it was concluded that Rafa is physically fit for competition,” it was reported on his official website. The Spaniard was troubled throughout the summer by a tear in an abdominal muscle.