Win.

It’s the goal that millions of athletes and their fans across the world share as they pursue victory in an athletic event. Winning is the most important thing, we are taught. Our emotions are invested in the moment. We live and die on the edge, players and fans alike.

And yet, that competitive attitude can backfire, when not aligned properly.

Put yourself in Serena Williams’ size 10 Nikes for a moment. You’re the favorite, the No. 2 women’s tennis player in the world, playing in your country’s biggest tennis event of the year. The U.S. Open. It’s an event you’ve won three times before. You’ve lost the first set to Belgian Kim Clijsters, you’re down 6-5 in the second, but the winner of this game could be the winner of the match. 15-30. Your second serve. Do or die. Your emotions have reached a crescendo.

Then on the serve, you’re called for a foot fault, a call that is rarely made in matches of this magnitude. But it’s the correct call nonetheless. Now you’re just a point from losing the match.

What would you do?

Williams, as replays show, went toward the official who made the call with her racket raised threateningly, saying, “I swear to God I'm [expletive] going to take this [expletive] ball and shove it down your [expletive] throat.”

Having earlier gotten a warning for throwing her racket, tennis rules dictate that a second offense warrants loss of a point. In this case, it was match point that she lost.

Game, set, match. Literally.

Tennis is a sport built on the principles of sportsmanship, etiquette, and respect. In the heat of the moment, is it understandable to empathize with Williams? To an extent. But does that justify what she did? Of course not. And not because it kept her from a spot in the Open final.

By virtue of her talent alone, Williams is a role model. Children emulate her. Adults root for her. We, the media, scrutinize her every move. It’s tough being famous, but this isn’t a question of fame, it's a question of human nature.

After the match, Williams certainly didn’t think she was the only one.

"An apology? From me? Well, how many people yell at linespeople? Players, athletes get frustrated. I don't know how many times I've seen that happen.”

As an athlete, one’s instinct is in the expression of emotion. Look at a linebacker, in football, after making a big hit, a closer, in baseball, after making a save, a point guard, in basketball, after getting called for a ticky-tack foul. Don’t even get me started on hockey.

Tennis is different. When 20,000 people are stuffed into an NBA arena, a Jumbotron asks them to “GET LOUDER!!!,” whereas 20,000 people may watch a tennis match, but if a fan shouts during a point, it’s strictly taboo. Trash talk is almost routine in the NFL, but in tennis, a player can only show up another by beating them. Players and managers alike argue with umpires in baseball, even vehemently so, but when that happens in tennis, well, you know what happens.

So is tennis the sport out of which all others ought to take a leaf? Maybe. I could do without the stadium-sized egos that seem to dominate the front pages of sports sections across the country. Silence a soccer stadium so the players can concentrate, though? Good luck with that.

Each sport carries its differences, but sportsmanship is universal. The actions that athletes choose not to take in the heat of the moment often speak less loudly than those that are. If that’s the case, maybe athletes should stop making so much noise.

Serena Williams made the wrong move Saturday night. She double-faulted both in reality and in analogy. Yes, Serena, athletes do get frustrated. We all get frustrated. The mark of our maturity as human beings is how we deal with it.

To be a role model, Serena, don’t just win. There are winners everywhere, if you look hard enough. To be a role model, set the right example: with and without a racket in your hand.