The world's No. 1 tennis star botched her camera-lens autograph, then hilariously learned she was using permanent marker when she asked for a do-over

• Iga Swiatek won a swift 6-4, 6-2 semifinal against Coco Gauff at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
• The world's top-ranked tennis star had a tougher time determining what to write on the camera lens.

Iga Swiatek had no problem dismantling No. 5 Coco Gauff in the semifinal of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

But the world's top-ranked tennis star did get tripped up after the big win.

After securing her 6-4, 6-2 victory over the 18-year-old American, Swiatek made her way over to the tournament's camera to sign the lens — as is a common post-victory tradition among players. After much consideration — she put a finger to her chin and even scratched her head — the 21-year-old began scrawling away in what looked to be her native Polish.

But then, midway through the word, she took a step back and waved her hands.

"Can I start again?" she said as she turned to the camera operator, who replied back with a confused, "Huh?"

"I want to start again," the three-time Grand Slam champion said sheepishly.

The staffer whipped out a lens cloth and began wiping away at the surface, but soon realized, "It's permanent." Swiatek's eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

Oops.

After a quick laugh, Swiatek once again raised the purple marker to the lens and began scribbling out her original message. Then, following some more deliberation and a shake of her head, wrote underneath the messy blob: "That's awkward..."

The 5-foot-9 superstar added at the top "Dad are you coming to the final?" and stepped back to look at her mess-terpiece. She even gave it an "awkward" two thumbs up.

In her post-match press conference, Swiatek explained the jumbled message she wrote on the camera, noting that she "heard that my dad is going to come to the final" and wanted to use the platform "to pressure him" because "it's not often that he comes to matches.

"I'm pretty happy that tennis is working out," she added with a chuckle. "Because writing and talking — not my thing right now!"

She'll hope the tennis keeps working out, at least for another day. Swiatek is set to take on 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova for the title Saturday at 10 a.m. ET.