Serena Williams is in Toronto to prepare for the 2022 Canadian Open, and she took some time to surprise the ball kids.
Williams traveled to Toronto together with her sister, after Venus lost in the opening round at the Citi Open in Washington. The sisters have been practicing in the most populous city of Canada for a few days, and the legend took some time out of her schedule to surprise ball kids at the WTA 1000 event.
Williams will be making her return to the event after not playing at it for a few years, and the event will be the first one she will play since making her return at Wimbledon earlier this year.
It's all part of the US Open schedule in order to get in tennis-playing shape before the Grand Slam and avoid an early exit like at Wimbledon.
Although her first-round match at the All England Club showed why the American has 23 Grand Slam titles in her collection, she lost 5-7, 6-1, 6-7(7) to Harmony Tan, and she will certainly want to return to winning matches soon.
Serena has not played in Canada since 2019, when she reached the final of the Canadian Open, losing to Bianca Andreescu, and that was also the year when the WTA 1000 tournament, which alternates between Toronto and Montreal, was held in Toronto, where the American is also now.
Winning 23 majors comes with many admirers, and especially in North America, Williams has many fans. Therefore, it was not surprising that the ball kids were very excited when they got to see the living legend, whom they may meet at least once more at the tournament if they collect balls during her match.
Fans commended Williams for surprising the kids, noting that they will remember that for their entire lives, while it took only a few seconds out of her life.