Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic got into it again Thursday during their quarterfinal match at the Dubai Championship over Jankovic supposedly serving before Williams was ready to receive.
Williams won the match 6-2, 6-2, and the issue came up when Jankovic was serving down 2-5 in the second set. Jankovic had an exchange with chair umpire Kader Nouni after saving a double-match point to make it 30-40. Williams seemed to hold Jankovic up before the serve, and Jankovic won the next point to make it deuce.
Williams did the same thing to Jankovic again before the next point. After Williams delayed her, Jankovic decided to take her time in response. She walked around the baseline before settling in to serve again. It was all pretty silly, but it was Jankovic’s way of showing she wouldn’t be controlled by Williams’ pace.
The two then exchanged words.
Beyond the Baseline believes Jankovic said, “You can take more time, it’s yours.”
“Do you want to do this again, Jelena?” Williams responded.
By “do this again,” Serena was likely referencing similar past incidents between them.
[Related: Jelena Jankovic at center of sperm bank controversy]
Jankovic then exchanged words with Nouni again.
Serena went on to win the game and match, and she and Jelena talked at the net after shaking hands. Things seemed to be fine between the two. Jankovic even indicated that her issue was not with Serena, but with the chair umpire, who complained that she played too slowly and too quickly.
This sort of incident is nothing new for Jankovic and Serena. Last year at the Family Circle Cup the same thing happened. You can see the video below:
The two also had an issue at the Italian Open in 2010 when Serena put her hand up to hold up one of Jankovic’s serves:
Also see: Jelena Jankovic gives fans a peep show
Related: Justine Henin addresses hand incident with Serena Williams
