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‘It’s Been a While’ – Serena Williams Double-Checks the Rulebook of Tennis in a Light-Hearted Conversation With Chair Umpire at Eastbourne International

Published 06/23/2022, 1:15 AM EDT

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via Reuters

Serena Williams continues her winning run at the Eastbourne International tournament, as she reached the semi-final in the doubles competition with her partner, Ons Jabeur. Today, the American-Tunisian pair beat the pair of Shuko Aoyama and Chan Hao-ching in straight sets to show their dominance on the tennis court.

However, one funny incident took place during the match, which made both Serena and the chair umpire smile.

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Serena Williams’ funny conversation with the chair umpire about a rule of tennis

In the second set, the pair of Serena and Jabeur broke Aoyama and Hao-ching’s serve to make the scoreline 5-4. While sitting during the changeover, Serena asked the chair umpire for clarification about the previous point, as Hao-ching missed the shot and then challenged the call.

So Serena said, Question, if they tip the ball, then the point’s over, right?”

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In reply, the chair umpire said, “Yes, it should.

Then the American tennis player said,Yeah, it’s okay. So, I just wanted to make sure, I wasn’t… It’s been a while.” 

It was indeed a wholesome moment of the match, as Serena Williams probably thought some rules may have changed while she was away from tennis. Despite the confusion regarding the rulebook of tennis, Jabeur played some exceptional shots during the match, as they won in just 1 hour and 5 minutes; the final scoreline was 6-2, 6-4.

Serena is forming a great partnership with Ons Jabeur

Meanwhile, the American tennis player is currently having fun after returning to the tennis court from her long injury layoff. After the match, she joked about going to the beach and swimming in the cold water. Also, she praised her partner Jabeur once again, as she continues playing some of her best tennis at the moment.

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In the previous match, an interviewer asked Williams about possibly playing doubles with Jabeur at Wimbledon as well. In reply, she talked about playing one match at a time. Right now, they are in the semi-final of Eastbourne and will play the pair of Aleksandra Krunic and Magda Linette next.

Can Williams and Jabeur win Eastbourne International? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Debkinkar Maity

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Debkinkar Maity is a Tennis Author at EssentiallySports. His desire to become a sports journalist inspired him to take up a degree in journalism and mass communication, and he hasn't looked back ever since. Following the sport for over a decade now, Debkinkar has an ardent love for Roger Federer.
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Edited by:

Veer Badani