Serena Williams received a rapturous reception at her ESPYs hosting gig, before taking aim at Drake, Travis Kelce and Shohei Ohtani in a gag-filled six-minute monologue.

The tennis icon fronted her first awards ceremony at the Dolby Theater on Thursday night, with her good friend Meghan Markle front row to watch the occasion.

In a black dress, the recently-retired Williams, 42, came on stage to huge applause, before immediately choosing Drake as her first target.

‘If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us… not a single one of us, not even me, should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar,’ she joked.

‘He will make your hometown not like you. The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re going to Forrest Gump him.’

Serena Williams received a huge round of applause as she took to the stage at the ESPYs in LA

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were among the big names to get a shoutout from Williams

The comment comes amid ongoing beef between the two rap sensations, which began in the early 2010s but escalated earlier this year amid the release of Kendrick’s ‘Like That’.

Continuing the monologue, Williams went on to explain why she had chosen the ESPYs as her first hosting gig, noting: ‘You may be wondering why am I doing this… first of all, any opportunity to wear 16 outfits in three hours, I’m taking it.’

Next up in the firing line was Travis Kelce, who didn’t get immediately name-checked and was instead referred to slightly differently.

‘Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs,’ Williams said. ‘This year, Patrick Mahomes and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend won a Super Bowl.

‘Travis and Taylor reportedly spend $100,000 a day on their romance… that’s a load of money, that’s what I’ve been told Jaylen Brown spends on his beard.’

Next up, there was a shoutout to the ongoing growth of women’s sport, but Williams was keen to stick the knife in to the salary disparity that still remains between men and women.

Williams joked that rapper Drake might struggle the next time he sits courtside at the Raptors

Williams came across as a natural during her gag-filled speech to begin the awards ceremony

‘Shohei Ohtani got $16m stolen from him by his translator and didn’t even notice,’ Williams joked, to much laughter. ‘Male athletes get paid so much more than female athletes they don’t even notice losing $16m. Believe me, I would have noticed.’

Caitlin Clark also got a mention, as Williams told her: ‘You are the Larry Bird in that you are an amazing player, you have ties to Indiana… and white people are really crazy about you.’

Finally, the tennis icon referenced the controversy surrounding Prince Harry and her friend Meghan Markle, who were watching on from the front row.

Prince Harry was in attendance to receive the Pat Tillman Award, but has received huge backlash in the build-up to the awards ceremony.

‘Prince Harry and Meghan are here, let’s give it up for them,’ Williams noted, before adding: ‘Please, Harry and Meghan, try not to breathe too much tonight because this is my night, and I don’t want to be overshadowed by the accusation that you guys are taking up too much oxygen.’