There were some obvious candidates to introduce Maria Sharapova for her induction ceremony at the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

She could have chosen her father, Yuri , who brought her from their native Russia to Florida when she was just six in order to train at the IMG Academy. Or perhaps she’d have gone with her longtime agent, Max Eisenbud , who signed Sharapova as an 11-year-old after watching her practice at the school. Serena Williams represented a far less obvious choice. She and Sharapova, after all, had a tense rivalry on-the-court––and what appeared to be a frosty relationship off it.

All of that history set the stage for Williams’ stunning appearance at the ceremony on Saturday night in Newport, Rhode Island, where there were audible gasps in the crowd when she a

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