Sam Stosur's finest hour was defeating the great 23-time grand slam champ Williams back in the 2011 US Open final, and now she's a key figure in Queenslander Joint's recent attempts to extricate herself from a slump after her superb breakthrough year in 2025.
Joint has hailed Stosur as her "rock" during this difficult spell, and Australia's Billie Jean King Cup captain is convinced the 20-year-old can thrive in her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity against perhaps the greatest female player in history in her comeback match on Wimbledon's Centre Court.
"Serena's 44 and hasn't had a match in four years, so she's got nothing but question marks to draw on, whereas Maya's been playing," said Stosur, who defeated Williams in three of their 11 encounters.
"We're all talking about Maya because we're all from from Australia -- but you can't tell me Serena isn't going to be nervous, too.
"I just watched her practice, Maya's hitting the ball great, playing well. This is a real chance; you see some people step up, and you see some sort of hide away and be cowed, and we've all seen (with her two WTA titles) that she can be the one who steps up. This is another chance for her to show that."
Last month, Joint revealed how Stosur had been helping her rediscover her confidence amid a trying period during which she has only had one victory in her last 14 matches, and that in a minor second-tier WTA event in Croatia earlier this month.
"I was trying to make sure she understood that nearly every player has been through what she's been suffering. She had such an incredible rise from 24 months ago, moving up from 600 in the rankings to the top 40 within a year, that it was all upwards then.
"It was always going to be a little bit of a challenge, potentially, to make that happen the second year round. She's not the first player to have a breakout year, and then players get to know you, you lose one match and you start questioning it.
"The biggest thing was for Maya to keep working on what she needed to and really find that enjoyment and joy in competing, joy in practice.
"Everyone's been through tough times in their career, but she'll bounce back, absolutely, no doubt in my mind, whatever happens in this match. Whether it's this week or next week or in a month's time, she'll be back to where she was.
"My message to her would be 'don't make it too complicated'. At the end of the day, it's still just lines and a ball that you have to hit in - so enjoy that, embrace that.
"There's going to be no bigger match than this for Maya - so go out there and love it."
But Stosur, who's actually two years younger than Williams, is still in awe of her old rival and fellow mum-of-two's comeback.
"I can't imagine what Serena's doing," she laughed. "It's incredible, and I'm like 'good for you'.
"I cannot imagine putting on my match kit right now, going out to play, that's for sure! I think it's great for tennis, and we're lucky to see her playing out there again."
WHO THE AUSTRALIANS WILL FACE IN THE FIRST ROUND ON WIMBLEDON'S DAY TWO
(number denotes seeding) (Q - qualifier) (WC - wildcard)
Men's Singles
5-Alex de Minaur v Roman Andres Burruchaga (ARG)
Alexei Popyrin v 13-Jiri Lehecka (CZE)
James Duckworth v Tallon Griekspoor (NED)
Thanasi Kokkinakis v 10-Alexander Bublik (KAZ)
Rinky Hijikata v Jesper de Jong (NED)
Dane Sweeny (Q) v (WC) Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
Women's singles:
Maya Joint v (WC) Serena Williams (USA)
Ajla Tomljanovic v (Q) Mariam Bolkvadze (GEO) (Q)
Kim Birrell v Alina Korneeva (RUS) (Q)
Talia Gibson v 21-Marie Bouzkova (CZE)
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