Tennis player goes viral for the 'worst double-fault of all time' at Eastbourne tournament

A Tennis player has gone viral after serving what has been described as ‘the worst double-fault of all time’.

On Wednesday afternoon, British number one Katie Boulter was up against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko at Eastbourne.

Eastbourne is often billed as the warm-up tournament ahead of Wimbledon, which will begin at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club on Monday.

During the match between Boulter and Ostapenko, the Latvian went viral after one of her serves was so wide it even missed the opposite service box.

Reacting on social media, one fan said: “Ostapenko hitting perhaps the worst double fault of all time. It didn’t even make it into the *wrong* service box.”

Another tweeted: “I don’t know what happened to her.”

A third fan added: “The ‘oh’ at the end is taking me out.”

Someone else wrote: “Admit it, we've done that at least once in the game.”

A fifth commented: “It’s just a shank. Happens to everyone occasionally. Nothing to see here.”

Ouch https://t.co/WzT8v2LUbj

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 26, 2024

Eventually, Boulter came away victorious after a straight sets 6-4, 7-5 victory.

Speaking after her win, Boulter said: “It's definitely taken a lot of the pressure off me. I wasn't sure what to expect coming into this grass-court season, I'm out here having fun and enjoying myself.

“Honestly, I was just trying to slap a little harder than she was. She's so tough to play against, you never know what is going to happen and it's completely in her control.”

Next up, Boulter will be up against French Open runner-up and third seed Jasmine Paolini or Elise Mertens of Belgium in the quarter-finals.

Ahead of Wimbledon next week, Boulter, along with Emma Raducanu will be the biggest home players to feature in the women's draw. For the men's, the likes of Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans will fly the flag for Britain amid confusion over Andy Murray's involvement.