Hindrance call fails to hinder Serena

Come on! Come on!

It threatened to devolve into a war of words as much as anything else on Saturday night, as Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova gave their vocal cords a thorough workout on Rod Laver Arena.

As Sharapova mounted a gritty comeback, grunting all the way, Williams returned serve.

Serving at 3-3 in the second set, the 33-year-old followed almost every winner with a fist pump and the words ‘come on’.

Having fired down what seemed to be unreturnable serve to win the game, Williams screamed her catch cry once too often.

Chair umpire Alison Hughes called her for hindrance, ruling it was a premature celebration.

Williams famously berated an umpire for calling her for hindrance in the 2011 US Open final against Samantha Stosur, suggesting the official was “just unattractive inside”.

Former Wimbledon winner Pat Cash was among the many surprised by Hughes’ ruling on Saturday night.

“Laughed now when Serena gets a hindrance point deduction for saying come on,” Cash posted on Twitter.

“Sharapova Grunt is considerably louder and longer. Hmm.”

But this time Williams kept her cool, sarcastically muttering a ‘come on’ long after her next point.

Instead it was Sharapova who seemed flustered.

“Come on,” she bellowed, having reached break point at 3-3.

It was a high-risk ploy and did not pay off – Williams settled to hold serve and looked none too impressed.

Sharapova forced a tiebreak, but it was Williams who gained the early advantage at 4-1.

“Come on,” she yelled.

Sharapova did just that, battling back to 4-3.

The second seed couldn’t quite force a third set, as her miserable losing streak against Williams extended to 16 matches.

Williams was stalled by a let call at championship point, but fired an 18th ace in almost exactly the same spot.

The 19-time grand slam winner could finally celebrate at full intensity – leaping high into the air and running to her court-side support.

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