Back in 2004 when a 17 year Maria Sharapova beat the two time defending champion at Wimbledon the entire world pitted the two athletes against each other, so the rivalry was partly projected onto them. Understandably, this animosity seeped into the player’s relationships with each other and both Williams and Sharapova were seen making snide comments about one another over the years, lending to the tense atmosphere. However, in a very emotional turn of events, and what seems to be a full circle moment in this 20-year-long rivalry, Maria Sharapova was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame by none other than Serena Williams.

When Williams was called on to present Sharapova with the honour, the entire crowd began to applaud resoundingly, but most of all Sharapova, who can be seen genuinely cheering and hooting for Serena as she takes the podium. Williams went on to make an incredibly emotional speech about the pairs rivalry.

“In 2004 when Maria was just 17 years old, she stunned the world and won Wimbledon. To this day she calls it the highlight of her career,” Williams said, “and to this day I call it one of my hardest losses. The match didn’t just make her a champion, it actually made her a star, it launched one of the most talked about and controversial rivalries in tennis. Every time we faced each other, atmosphere shifted, it was thick, tension was real, fire was real,” Williams managed to paint a picture of that era in tennis where even the commentators added fuel to the fire.

However, Williams took control of the podium with some levity and adding to her thoughts about the shifting atmosphere, “And honestly you could feel it, and by the way, you could hear it, with all Maria’s grunting, not mine, yours, I was just copying you.” Williams added, clocking Sharapova in the cloud in a moment of playful banter. Williams ended on a really poignant note, putting the whole thing into context once and for all, “But behind all of that fire was something else, Even though we didn’t talk about it, maybe we really couldn’t back then, we really respected each other immensely.” And with that one line, Williams said all that needed to be said, culminating in the perfect moment, and way for Sharapova to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams share friendly banter at Hall of Fame induction ceremony

Williams ended the speech calling Sharapova one of the world’s greatest sports heroes of all time, then welcoming Sharapova onto the stage to accept the honour herself. After Sharapova and Williams shared a long embrace, commemorating the moment, Sharapova took on Williams’ levity, furthering the playful banter.

“She forgot to give me the trophy,” Sharapova began her speech with. “God forbid Serena gives me the trophy. I’ll just take it myself.” Sharapova then shared that Williams and her spoke to her for hours to prepare for this speech, not forgetting to mention that they mainly gossiped. Though Sharapova moved back into the emotional vein of things, she didn’t forget to say,“Serena I thought that today you’d let me win just this once but you may have won the speech competition, so…”

So there you have it, two the greatest tennis players of all time have, in one morning, transformed the narrative that was placed upon them, and re-written the story, that needed to be re-written as it was theirs and no one else’s!