'Adorable': Serena Williams moment with defeated teen melts hearts
Serena Williams has provided one teenager a moment she will never forget after taking a photo with the debutant after their match at the Emilia-Romagna Open.
Williams was playing at her first clay court match outside of Rome and Rolland Garros since 2015 and notched her first win on clay this season, after her shock exit at the Italian Open.
'SPEECHLESS': Rafa Nadal's gym photo with Rome champ goes bonkers
'UNCOMFORTABLE': Federer speaks on Alexander Zverev abuse claims
The 39-year-old took on Italian teenager Lisa Pigato and won 6-3, 6-2, but was surprised after the match to find out her opponent was only 17 years old.
And in a beautiful moment, the teenager approached Williams after the match and asked for a photo with the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
Williams was more than happy to oblige and even shared an "adorable" moment after the photo when she shared a laugh and chatted with the teenager.
In her post-match interview, Williams shared parts of the conversation with Pigato and said she was surprised at how young her opponent was.
After all, Williams was playing her 1,001st WTA match, while Pigato was playing her first.
Pigato even surprised the home crowd as she immediately broke Williams' serve and the American praised the teenager for how well she handled the moment in her first ever WTA Tour tournament.
"I think her future's super bright," Williams said.
"She's 17 and playing her first tournament, so that's pretty cool, and she handled the moment well. I look forward to cheering for her in the future.
The tennis world couldn't believe the heartwarming interaction between the 39-year-old tennis legend and the 17-year-old rising star.
If your first ever match in a WTA main draw is against Serena Williams, how could you not try and get a photo? Love this. https://t.co/EJbR1muXYt
— D'Arcy Maine (@darcymaine_espn) May 17, 2021
(1) Serena Williams def. Pigato (6-3, 6-2) at the Emilia-Romagna Open. Then took a selfie with the 18 year old. 😍 pic.twitter.com/6pRyVo5xtL
— Serena Williams News (@serenanews) May 17, 2021
That moments 📸@ERTourism | @RegioneER | @ComuneParma | @SuperTennisTv | @serenawilliams | #Williams | #Pigato | #EmiliaRomagnaOpen | #WTAParma pic.twitter.com/i6echXISJk
— MEF tennis events (@meftennisevents) May 17, 2021
What an absolutely lovely moment. So nice of Serena.pic.twitter.com/OcQOCRFr7C
— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) May 17, 2021
Better angle, btw 🤳😇 pic.twitter.com/d3yImcY7sG
— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) May 17, 2021
Adorable! 😍
— Panchajanya_Das 🎗️🎗️🎗️ (@David1Campelo) May 17, 2021
Williams' road to Roland Garros
Williams, who accepted a wildcard invitation for the Parma tournament after losing her opening match at the Italian Open last week, dominated after dropping her serve in the opening game.
Williams hadn't won since beating Simona Halep in the Australian Open quarter-finals in February.
She was eliminated from the year's first grand slam tournament by Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals.
After some time off, Williams then lost in straight sets in Rome to Nadia Podoroska, a French Open semi-finalist last year.
Williams is preparing for Roland Garros, which starts in two weeks.
It was the first WTA match for Pigato and the 1,001st for Williams, a 23-time grand slam champion.
with AAP
Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.