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Twenty-three-time Major winner Serena Williams has participated in her fair share of exhibition matches during her career that spanned more than two decades. Generally, the first few months or the final third of the tennis season are generally a good fit for exhibition events, as evidenced by the famous Hit for Haiti or Match for Africa series.
And while Williams did turn up for the former, she has a long list of exhibition matches that were much more definitive for her legacy. From setting attendance records to participating in once-in-a-lifetime matchups, the American legend has everything ticked off as far as exhibition matches are concerned.
On that note, let's take a look at five of the best exhibition matches that Serena Williams has played in her career:
#5 Serena Williams vs Jelena Ostapenko, Mubadala World Tennis Championships, 2017
Serena Williams began her 2017 season on a high, defeating her elder sister Venus to win her 23rd and last Major title at the Australian Open. The-then World No. 1 soon took some time off the WTA tour, disclosing a few months later that she had been seven to eight weeks pregnant at the time of her Melbourne triumph.
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Williams eventually returned to professional tennis in December of that year, having given birth to her first daughter, Olympia, three months back. She would make an appearance at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi to take on 20-year-old Jelena Ostapenko, who had won her maiden title at Roland Garros in June of that year.
The first-ever meeting between the new mother and the fast-rising star didn't disappoint, as they split the first two sets. In the decider, Ostapenko came out on top of a shoot-out super-tiebreaker, winning the match 6-2, 3-6, [10-5].
Needless to say, the aggressive exchanges between the two players delighted fans greatly and set the tone for Williams' return to the top rungs of tennis the following year.
#4 Serena Williams vs Venus Williams, Nigeria & South Africa, 2012
Serena Williams squared off against seven-time Major winner and her sister Venus Williams the most number of times in an exhibition match. To date, the Williams sisters have played a total of 17 exhibition matches.
The highlight of their rivalry came in late 2012, when they took part in two matches for 'Breaking the Mould', an initiative to celebrate women who had strayed from the norm and inspired other women. The first leg of the exhibition series in Nigeria went the elder sister's way as she beat Serena 6-4, 7-5.
The final match took place in South Africa, and this time the younger sister came through with a straightforward 6-3, 6-4 win. The exhibition between the Williams sisters was very philanthropic in its approach; the two visited a developmental clinic for kids in Johannesburg and were treated to wheelchair-bound ball kids during their contest.
#3 Serena Williams vs Venus Williams, Mubadala World Tennis Championships, 2018
The Williams sisters' final exhibition match against each other came at the 2018 Mubadala World Tennis Championships. Interestingly enough, both had not played a single competitive match since their US Open meeting in September that year, which the younger sister won for the loss of just three games.
Their Abu Dhabi clash, however, was much closer as both players went blow-for-blow for one and a half hours. After splitting the first two sets, the shoot-out super-tiebreaker decider didn't disappoint as Venus edged the 23-time Major winner to win 4-6, 6-3, [10-8].
For academic purposes, while Serena leads her elder sister by a margin of 19-12 in their WTA tour encounters, Venus dominated her in their exhibition matches. The two had several fun-filled outings from 2001 to 2018, with the seven-time Major winning 12 of their 17 exhibition matches.
#2 Serena Williams vs Kim Clijsters, Belgium, 2010
Serena Williams wasn't initially supposed to play against Kim Clijsters in their exhibition match at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium in July 2010. The American replaced an injured Justine Henin, and would entertain the local crowd despite carrying a foot injury of her own.
Clijsters, on her part, had come out of retirement just a year prior. She enjoyed arguably the best run of her career in the following months, winning back-to-back Major titles at the 2010 US Open and the 2011 Australian Open. But while the above achievement is admirable, so is the fact that she and Williams set the record for the most-attended tennis match in history at 35,000+ spectators.
Ultimately, it took giants like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to outdo their numbers at the sixth edition of Match for Africa in 2020. And while Clijsters beat her rival 6-3, 6-2, it was certainly a match to remember for both players.
#1 Serena Williams and Venus Williams vs Karsten Braasch, Battle of the Sexes, 1998
Serena Williams and Venus Williams played one of their first-ever exhibition events at the 1998 Australian Open against ATP player Karsten Braasch, who was ranked just outside the top 200 rankings. The German, on his part, had agreed to play the match as both his singles and doubles campaigns had ended early at the Melbourne Slam.
Although Braasch was hardly known amongst devout tennis fans then, he had little to no trouble taking the Williams sisters to the cleaners in the second installment of the 'Battle of the Sexes'. He beat Serena and Venus 6-1 and 6-2, respectively, and rubbed salt in their proverbial wounds by claiming post-match that he hadn't served at full power to "keep it fun."
Having said that, the exhibition match was only a precursor for things to come for the Williams sisters. Serena would win her maiden Major title at the 1999 US Open and was followed by her sister at 2000 Wimbledon. Together, they dominated the early 2000s as they picked up 12 of the 24 Grand Slam tournaments between the 1999 US Open and 2005 Wimbledon.
Venus Williams and Father Richard recall one match that 7-time Grand Slam champion "should have won"
