The two storied competitors will meet for the first time in their careers in a mixed doubles match on January 1.<\/b>
\nThey\u2019re two of the greatest tennis players of all time. They\u2019re the only two in the Open Era with at least 20 Grand Slam titles.
Serena Williams boasts 23 and is celebrating the close of a special year. Roger Federer has 20 titles, a mark he reached in 2018.
And now they\u2019ll meet for the first time in their storied careers when they face off in a Hopman Cup exhibition mixed doubles match on New Year\u2019s Day in Australia.
Williams and Federer, both 37, have shared the court when winning Grand Slam titles on the same weekend eight times, most recently in 2017. They\u2019ve also played together in a 2010 exhibition match raising money for Haiti, but have never been on opposing sides of the net.
The match-up comes courtesy of the Hopman Cup, where eight teams representing their countries play in a round-robin format. There are two groups of four and nations play two singles and a mixed doubles match. The winners of each group play in Saturday\u2019s final.
\u201cI\u2019ve been looking forward to it since I saw it,\u201d Williams said, per the New York Times . \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, my God, this is so cool.\u2019 So it\u2019s just something that, as a player, is something that you would dream of, to play Roger Federer.\u201d
Williams will play with Frances Tiafoe, representing the United States. The U. S. lost to Greece on Monday, though Williams won her singles match.
Federer will play with Belinda Bencic for Switzerland. The Swiss duo is the defending champion and opened the tournament with a win over Britain.
Federer said it\u2019s exciting for both of them to participate in what could be a once-in-a-lifetime event.
From the New York Times:
The match will be played as \u201cFast 4,\u201d an abbreviated Tennis Australia format with sets played to four games, no ad-scoring and a nine-point tiebreak at 3-all.
Williams and Federer have each won the tournament twice, but never competed in the same year .<\/p>\n