In August, Maria Sharapova was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, five years after officially retiring from the sport.
Sharapova enjoyed an incredible career, during which she became just the 10th woman in history to complete the Career Grand Slam.
The Russian delivered one of the greatest stories in tennis history at Wimbledon in 2004, winning the tournament aged 17.
Her final opponent that year, Williams, inducted her into the Hall of Fame and gave a speech at her ceremony.
Recently, Sharapova revealed how she felt about the 23-time Grand Slam champion delivering the honour.
Maria Sharapova discusses her Hall of Fame induction ceremony
When asked on an episode of The David Rubenstein Show if Williams inducting her felt ‘awkward’, Sharapova responded: “Awkward wasn’t the right word. It was so exciting, and it was so thrilling.”
Rubenstein followed up with: “Were you surprised that she agreed to do it?”
Who will win the 2026 Australian Open?
Sharapova replied: “Well, that would have been awkward because that is a call that I made.
“I said: ‘There’s no one else I’d rather be on that stage than you,’ and she said, ‘I’m honoured.’ But it could have gone the other way.
“It didn’t, thankfully. And she was incredible. She was very thoughtful. Her speech was really strong, but it was also very personal.
“There’s that moment when she walked on stage, of like five to ten seconds, when there was a bit of silence and shock in the crowd, and I was like, I think we achieved what we wanted to achieve here.”
Maria Sharapova’s head-to-head record with Serena Williams
The head-to-head between Sharapova and Williams was incredibly one-sided, with the American dominating the rivalry 20-2.
They first met at the Miami Open in 2004, where Williams, seeded first, beat Sharapova 6-4, 6-3 in the round of 16.
Sharapova came out on top in their second clash, which was the 2004 Wimbledon final, triumphing 6-1, 6-4, before defeating Williams again in the final of the WTA Finals later that year.
From then on, however, Williams won 19 consecutive matches against Sharapova, including the 2007 Australian Open final, the 2012 London Olympics gold medal match, the 2013 French Open final and the 2015 Australian Open final.
Their last tour-level meeting came in the first round of the 2019 US Open, which Williams won comfortably, sweeping aside Sharapova, 6-1, 6-1.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
