Serena Williams and Roger Federer have each accomplished all there is to achieve on the tennis court, and fans couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the new year than to see the two heavyweights take on each other. For the first time in their lives, Williams and Federer competed against each other in the mixed doubles match up at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, and as expected, it is not the outcome of the game that most interested fans.
The match ended with the Swiss helping his partner, Belinda Bencic, beat Williams and Frances Tiafoe 4-2 4-3 (5-3), giving Switzerland a 2-1 win over the United States in their round robin match, but it is what transpired after the game that truly stuck with tennis fans worldwide.
The two greats posed for a smiling selfie, as reported by ET Online , and unsurprisingly it took the internet by storm.
“Oh what a night @serenawilliams,” Federer, 37, captioned the pic. Williams uploaded the same picture on her Instagram, albeit with a filter.
The duo’s post-match comments showed exactly why both Williams and Federer have so much admiration for each other. Federer complimented “champion” Serena on her “wonderful” serve.
“It was great fun. I really enjoyed playing against Serena. What an honor. I was nervous returning because people talk about her serve so much. I know why they say it now, she has a wonderful serve. She’s a great champion, you see how focused she is, and I love that about her.”
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Serena was swift to return the compliment, joking that she lost the match too early. The 23-time Grand Slam winner, which easily makes her the woman to win the most singles’ Grand Slam titles in the Open Era, said that she was just “warming up” and would have wanted to play against Federer, whom she called the “greatest of all time,” for much longer. The fact that the pair competed against each other at the end of their careers is another positive, Williams added.
“It was a great experience. I’m sad it’s over, I was just warming us. It was so fun to do this at the pinnacle of our careers. The guy is great. He’s the greatest of all time. There’s a reason why he is so great. He has a killer serve. I’ve watched him all the time but I never realized how good it was. Maybe I could get some tips from him later on.”
The result of the match will now see Federer lead the Swiss team against Greece in the finals, while the United States will now play against Great Britain in the Hopman Cup.
