Sofia Kenin had a bizarre Charleston Open moment on Thursday as the American tennis star appeared to forget that the electronic line calling system was in place and wanted to use a challenge.
Serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set and with the game being tied to 15/15, the 2020 Australian Open champion thought that Daria Kasatkina's ball was wide and she stopped play and circled the place where she thought the ball landed. If this happened several years earlier when line umpires were making calls, it wouldn't be anything surprising. But since it happened in a tournament that uses AI technology for making calls and has zero chance of making a mistake, it turned into a bizarre but also funny moment.
"Oh, what has Kenin done here? She stopped playing... She is absolutely convinced it's out but, of course, we have the electronic line calling system in place," the commentator said on air.
Kenin lost that game but won the match
When the game continued, the American tennis star had a chance to seal the deal but missed out on a match point as Kasatkina went on to force a tie-break. However, the former world No. 4 stayed calm and composed and ultimately managed to get the job done in two sets after saving a set point in the second-set tie-break and completing a 6-3 7-6 (7) win.
Kenin, who also beat Belinda Bencic in Charleston, is set to play against Anna Kalinskaya for a place in the semifinal. And she had a warning for her next rival.
If I play like this, its tough to beat me," Kenin said after the reaching the Charleston quarterfinal.
