Serena Williams is back in Canada at one of her very best tournaments

WATCH: The Break—Rebel Wilson brings tennis to the silver screen

Serena Williams made a long-awaited return to the tour at Wimbledon this summer, falling in the first round but still showing us all what has made her the most decorated tennis player in the Open Era—despite not playing a singles match in almost a whole year, she was points away from beating Harmony Tan in the first round, and the Frenchwoman ended up going all the way to the second week.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1 will kick off her second singles event back in Toronto on Monday, against an as-of-yet-undetermined qualifier, and if her history in Canada is anything to go by—she’s 34-5 in her career at the National Bank Open, and 27-3 in Toronto specifically—she could be one of the biggest threats for the title (despite coming into the WTA 1000 event unranked!)

Here’s a look back at all of the times Serena brought her magic north of the border:

1995: Quebec City (fell in qualifying)
As an unranked 14-year-old, Serena made her professional debut at the now-discontinued WTA 250 indoor hard-court event in Quebec City, falling in the first round of qualifying to No. 149-ranked, 18-year-old countrywoman Annie Miller, 6-1, 6-1.

“All I remember is that I was incredibly nervous. I couldn’t believe I was playing,” Serena reminisced in 2019. “I just couldn’t deal with the nerves. It was a lot for me. I just needed to go home and get a lot better, and then when I came back, I was more ready to be able to play on the professional circuit.”

2000: Montreal (finalist)
Now a Grand Slam champion—she had won the US Open the year before—Serena was ranked No. 7 and full of confidence in Montreal in 2000, having just won Los Angeles the week before, beating No. 1 Martina Hingis and No. 2 Lindsay Davenport back-to-back in the last two rounds. She extended her winning streak to nine matches in a row to reach the Montreal final and seemed headed for her 10th win in a row as she bageled Hingis in the first set, but a left foot injury—as well as a resilient Hingis—led to the Swiss claiming a 0-6, 6-3, 3-0 retirement victory and the title.

“It was two different matches out there today,” Hingis said afterwards. “I was worried I might lose, 6-0, 6-0, but I just kept at it. I could see she wasn’t moving well in the third set, but I didn’t want to give her an opening.”

2001: Toronto (champion)
Serena conquered Canada for the first time in 2001, and it was a bit of a revenge mission—she defeated Monica Seles in the semifinals, 7-5, 7-6 (5), having just lost to the nine-time Grand Slam champion the week before in Los Angeles, and then she battled past Jennifer Capriati in the final, 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-3, having lost their last four meetings in a row, including at Miami, Roland Garros and Wimbledon earlier that year.

“This win is really gratifying for me,” Serena told press. “To come through as a winner this year, just a step farther, is really satisfying. I really needed the win.”

2005: Toronto (third round)
The only time Serena hasn’t reached the semifinals or better at the WTA 1000 in Canada was in 2005, when—after coming back from a set and 2-0 down for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Frenchwoman Stephanie Cohen-Aloro in her opening match—she had to withdraw from the tournament ahead of her round-of-16 match.

“Ankle’s good, but I’m just dealing with some issues with my knee, because of my ankle,” she said. “Since it went bad, my ankle, my knee got a little weak—well, weaker than it has been in the past. So I just don’t feel like I’m doing well.”

Serena would reach the fourth round of the US Open a few weeks later before falling to Venus Williams in a (very) unfortunate draw.

2009: Toronto (semifinals)
Serena was on fire in 2009, winning two of the first three majors of the year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and she was ranked No. 2 by the time Toronto came around—but she ran into a red-hot Elena Dementieva in the semifinals, falling to the No. 5-ranked Olympic champion, 7-6 (2), 6-1. Dementieva would take out Maria Sharapova in straight sets too in an all-Russian final, 6-4, 6-3.

“I really hope to have another go at her at the US Open because I learned a lot from today’s match,” Serena said afterwards—the two didn’t end up playing each other in New York, but Serena won their next (and last) two meetings in straight sets, at the 2009 WTA Finals (6-2, 6-4) and at Sydney in 2010 (6-3, 6-2).

2011: Toronto (champion)
Shortly after returning from an 11-month lay-off due to a foot injury and a pulmonary embolism, Serena went on an 18-match winning streak in the summer of 2011, which included winning the title in Toronto. She beat Sam Stosur in the final, 6-4, 6-2, and she served it out in style, ripping four aces in the last game—she also celebrated in style, jumping up and down and raising her arms in the air.

“Being down the way I’ve been and coming back, it was cool,” she said of her post-match celebration. “Eight months ago, if there was only one tournament I wanted to win, it was Toronto. For whatever reason, I really wanted to win this event.”

2013: Toronto (champion)
Serena’s most dominant victory in Canada came in Toronto in 2013, when she didn’t even lose a set en route to the title, dusting it off with a 6-2, 6-0 championship victory over Sorana Cirstea, who had taken out Top 10 players Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova and Li Na en route to the biggest final of her career.

It was the eighth of Serena’s 11 WTA titles that year.

“I feel like I have played a lot of tennis this year, although I don’t think I’ve overdone it,” she said. “I feel like I’ve played key tournaments, played well in those tournaments, and just keep going.”

2014: Montreal (semifinals)
After escaping defeat against Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, Serena fell to Venus in the semis, rallying from 3-1 down to take the first set but eventually going down in three, 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-3. Serena had won the pair’s last five meetings in a row at the time, but Venus was just too resilient this time.

“She’s been doing really well,” Serena said. “Obviously I always want her to do the best that she can. I want to do the best that I can, too—but yeah, I’m really happy for her.”

2015: Toronto (semifinals)
Serena came to Canada in 2015 on a 16-match winning streak, which included back-to-back Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and she extended that run to 19 matches in a row en route to the semifinals in Toronto, where she fell to Belinda Bencic, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, in what was the Swiss teenager’s first win over a No. 1.

And in a bit of foreshadowing, Serena took out Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci en route to the semis, just a few weeks before the two Italians would square off in the final of the US Open—and where Vinci ended Serena’s bid for a Calendar Slam.

2019: Toronto (finalist)
Playing in Canada for the first time since returning to the tour as a mom, Serena made her fifth career final at the WTA 1000 event—taking out then-No. 2 Naomi Osaka along the way, 6-3, 6-4, some revenge for a loss in the US Open final the year before—before ultimately having to retire down 3-1 in the first set of the final against Bianca Andreescu due to a back injury.

2022: Toronto (TBD)
Coming into the 2022 edition of the event, Serena has a 34-5 career record at the National Bank Open—27-3 in Toronto, 7-2 in Montreal—and has reached the semifinals or better in eight of nine previous appearances, her third-round walkover in 2005 the only time she didn’t make it that far. How will she do in 2022?