Maria Sharapova reveals if it was 'awkward' having Serena Williams induct her into the HoF & how she felt about American's speech

On August 23, 2025, 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams surprised Maria Sharapova by appearing at her Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island. The American who shared a rivalry with Sharapova in the 2010s called the Russian star her "former rival, former fan and forever friend."

Now months after the ceremony, Sharapova recalled the moment in her appearance on "The David Rubenstein Show." She was asked by the host if she felt "awkward" seeing her former rival be the one inducting her into the HoF.

"Awkward wasn't the right word, David," Sharapova said (1:16). "Um, it was so exciting and it was so thrilling. Well, it would have been, that would have been awkward, 'cause that is a call that I made, and I said, 'Well, there's no one else I'd rather be on that stage with than you.' And she said, 'I'm honored.' "Um, and she was incredible. She was very thoughtful. Her speech was really strong. It was also very personal, and there's that moment when she walked on stage of, like, 5 to 10 seconds when the crowd, there was, like, a bit of silence and shock, and there's a wave through the crowd, and I was like, I think we achieved what we wanted to achieve here."

Serena Williams gives due recognition to rivalry with Maria Sharapova

When Maria Sharapova entered the professional tennis scene, it was already being dominated by the Williams sisters. It required immense willpower to break through, and Sharapova had that in her to take down the biggest women's tennis star.

She defeated Serena Williams with ease in the 2004 Wimbledon championship. Now, years later, Williams acknowledged that Sharapova was the one who pushed her to the limit during the Russian's Hall of Fame ceremony.

“There are only a few players in my career who challenged me to be the very best, every single time we stepped out on the court,” Williams said. “Maria Sharapova was one of them. Whenever I saw her name next to mine in the draw, I made sure I practiced harder.”

Sharapova also acknowledged that playing against Williams motivated her to bring the best out of her.

“We both knew no other way than to fight our hearts out. ... We both hated to lose more than anything on this earth, and we both knew that the other was the biggest obstacle between ourselves and the trophy,” Sharapova said at the ceremony.

Both players emerged as tennis stalwarts before calling it quits on their legendary career.

Edited by Krutik Jain