Jubilant Serena Williams said she learned her lesson after a hindrance call at the 2011 US Open led to a meltdown and a rare grand slam final defeat.

Williams famously berated an umpire for calling her for hindrance in New York, where Samantha Stosur won her maiden major, the American suggesting the official was “just unattractive inside”.

“You get a code violation because I express who I am. We’re in America last I checked,” Williams said at the time, adding that she “truly” despised umpire Eva Asderaki.

Pundits sensed there may have been a repeat on Saturday night at Melbourne Park, where Williams fired down what seemed to be unreturnable serve to take a 4-3 lead in the second set of the Australian Open final.

“Come on,” Williams screamed at Maria Sharapova.

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

This time Williams kept her cool, sarcastically muttering a ‘come on’ long after her next point had finished.

“I didn’t know the rules back then. I know the rules now,” Williams said, comparing the incidents in a post-match interview.

“I’m not one to argue a lot unless I feel that I’m right.

“It was totally fine.

“I had to relax, I knew I was going to hold serve.”

But it threatened to devolve into a war of words when Williams and Sharapova gave their vocal cords a thorough workout on Rod Laver Arena.

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

“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.”

Sharapova continued her gritty comeback, grunting all the way to break point at 3-3 in the second set.

“Come on,” the Russian bellowed.

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 take it to a third set, as her miserable losing streak against Williams extended to 16 matches.