Meet Aseel Shaheen, first Arab woman to officiate at Wimbledon

Serena Williams or Sharapova can wait a bit, but Aseel Shaheen has already won in this year's Wimbledon.

There are 350 personnel officiating this year at Wimbledon, but one of them catches attention instantaneously.

(Photo Credit: Aseel Shaheen Facebook Page)

She's 41-year-old Kuwaiti Aseel Shaheen – the first Arab woman to be appointed as an official for the prestigious Grand Slam.

Every year, the All England Club in London invites 60 overseas officials, and Shaheen is one of them but the only one to create history.

(Photo Credit: Aseel Shaheen Facebook Page)

Shaheen enrolled for an officiating course in 2002; and 13 years later, she is living her dream in the Ralph Lauren-designed blue blazer.

She finished third in the course despite negligible knowledge of tennis.

(Photo Credit: Aseel Shaheen Facebook Page)

Shaheen says that she did not know anything about tennis before taking up the officiating course.

"I kept going," Shaheen was quoted as saying by i100.independent report.

"It became a challenge for me because they would always nominate the guys and ignore me.

"I told them I wanted to be an international umpire, I have the qualification and I have the language skills, because I speak good English. So I went to officiating school."

(Photo Credit: Aseel Shaheen Facebook Page)

She was a bit nervous about her debut as an official at Wimbledon because she wears a hijab, but she, to her utmost happiness, has been welcomed and is now enjoying her date with history.

"It's an indescribable feeling being here," she told Sport360. "My wearing the hijab and working on court during a tennis match at Wimbledon is a sign that the world is starting to accept us more."

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