Serena Williams always had an aura and leaves a lasting impression on most people she meets.

Former professional tennis player Conor Niland had the opportunity to practice with the future 23-time Grand Slam champion when they were both 16 years old.

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Niland, who reached No. 129 in the world, details his brushes with iconic names throughout his career, as well as some of the brutal reality of being a professional outside the top 100, in his new book. The racket.

It is one of six books nominated for the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2024.

talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham sat down with Niland for an extensive interview where they discussed sections of the book and his meeting with the Williams sisters came up.

Niland and his friend Steven Nugent went to the famous Nick Bollettieri Academy when he was just 16 years old.

“This anonymous Irish-American donor sent us there for two weeks. We arrived at the airport with no one to pick us up and we simply gave this taxi driver an address and told him to come to court 72 at 7am the next morning.

“There were about 50 other kids on the court and a coach. It didn’t seem that impressive. We were all lined up, one by one. It’s a session you do when you’re six, you do a forehand and a backhand and then you go to the back of the line.

“I hit the biggest forehand I could down the line, then the coach sent Nuge and me to Percy on court one. He managed the academy’s best under-18 teams.

“We spent a couple of days there and then Serena and Venus came. Wimbledon and they invited us to go play with the Williams sisters for three or four days.

“It was great! Obviously all the sessions were completely directed for them, no one asked me if I wanted to work on my broad service.

“It was incredible. She was 25 in the world at the time and Venus was five, they were 16 and 17. They had already made it.

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“Richard Williams was walking and approached me before one of the sessions. I knew I hadn’t hit Serena yet and he told me ‘it’s your turn today, boy.’

“I was like ‘oh God, I’m a little scared now.’

“We knew that once you get a chance to play with these girls and you do well, they might invite you back.

“I overheard a conversation between Serena and her coach about who she wanted to practice with tomorrow, the blonde-haired boy or the brown-haired boy. Nuge had dyed her hair blonde that year.

“When the brown-haired boy said, I knew I had been given the go-ahead.”

Something Niland mentions in the book is a possible what-if moment for him, as he was asked to return to academia.

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“We rub shoulders with some of the people at the top of the game,” he continued. “They asked us if we were interested in returning to academia full-time. For some reason we didn’t.

“I came home and went back to boarding school in England. I almost wrote in the book ‘why didn’t I stay?’”

Listen to the full conversation with talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham in our youtube channel.