"I gotta ask Serena for permission if I can play with a new partner" - Venus Williams jokes about playing doubles with actor Zach Braff
Venus Williams made a guest appearance on a recent episode of 'The Late Late Show with James Corden' where she joked around with Hollywood actor Zach Braff about potentially playing doubles with him.
Braff, best known for his portrayal of J.D. on the comedy television series 'Scrubs', revealed on the show that he occasionally plays tennis with some of his fellow actors. However, the American admitted that he was "horrible" at the sport and had to go over the basics every time he showed up to practice.
"I do play a bit of tennis but I do it very, very rarely. I go to this wonderful teacher named Chris Crabb and he teaches a lot of famous people in town. When I am around and I can go, I go," Braff said. "But every time I go, I show up and tell him, 'I have forgotten everything. Let's go over my backhand again' and he's like, 'You're going to play [against] Steve Careell and Pete Wentz and Donald Faison' and I.. am horrible, frankly."
Looking at the seven-time Grand Slam champion seated next to him, the 46-year-old jokingly remarked that it would be wonderful if he could show up one day as her doubles partner.
"I think it would be great if I could show up one day and go, 'Oh I brought my friend,'" Braff said.
Though she was caught by surprise, the former World No. 1 joined in on the joke. The American stated that she would be okay with the idea as long as her sister Serena Williams gave her the go-ahead, inviting loud applause from the studio audience.
"I gotta ask Serena [Williams] for permission if I can play with a new partner," Williams joked. "Just ask."
Here's a video of the incident uploaded to Twitter by the show's official handle:
.@ZachBraff attempts to recruit @Venuseswilliams as his new doubles partner https://t.co/0kcXwyl5PE
The 41-year-old also took part in a fun game where she tried to knock off a water bottle placed on a volunteer's head, in this case, CBS channel's Senior Vice President of Late Night Programming, Nick Bernstein.
Venus Williams did not need too many attempts to accomplish the feat, knocking the bottle off Bernstein's head in just her seventh try.
Here's a video of the game uploaded to Twitter:
"Thank you Nick Bernstein for helping Venus Williams with some target practice," the video was captioned.
Thank you @bernsteinnick for helping @Venuseswilliams with some target practice 🎾 https://t.co/31gfBAnZXp
Venus Williams has won all of her doubles titles while partnering Serena Williams
Venus Williams has won 22 doubles titles on the WTA tour, including 14 Grand Slams. Each of those titles was won partnering with sister Serena Williams. Interestingly, the younger Williams won a doubles title without her sister for company. The 23-time Grand Slam champion triumphed at the 2002 Sparkassen Cup with compatriot Alexandra Stevenson as her partner.
Venus & Serena, Wimbledon doubles champions again: 16 years after their first in 2000 https://t.co/Zce7GqGyHU
The pair also have three Olympic golds in doubles, making them the only tennis players in history to have three golds in the same category. The Americans are also the only players in the Open Era to win gold in both singles and doubles categories.
Not enough emphasis is put on Venus and Serena’s doubles resume together:
14-0 in major finals
3 Olympic Gold Medals
Won 4 majors in a row at one point
Ranked #1
And they barely play twitter.com/ChimGAT/status…
More importantly, Serena and Venus Williams are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals, winning each of their 14 attempts -- six at Wimbledon, four at the Australian Open, two each at the US Open and Roland Garros).