Former first racket of the world and one of the most titled tennis player in history, Serena Williams, at the recent ESPY Awards ceremony, took a jab at her “arch-rival” Maria Sharapova, dedicating a song to her.
“»She could be my tennis ball. She's stunningly blonde and very tall. People say We have enmity, we behave rudely to each other… But, in general, I beat her 20 times,” Williams sang at the ceremony, before which she addressed the Russian woman from the screen.
There was no malice or negativity in this sketch from Williams. On the contrary, she and the audience laughed, and after the end of the song, Serena pretended that Sharapova called her on the phone and they agreed on a friendly dinner. However, on the court the situation between the tennis players was heating up in earnest.
Sharapova and Williams played for the first time in 2004. 16-year-old Maria was just approaching the top 20, and Serena, by the age of 23, had already won Grand Slam tournaments six times. In the debut confrontation, Williams won a landslide victory, but the same year the tennis players met in the Wimbledon final. Sharapova finished off Williams in an hour and became the first Russian Wimbledon champion at 17 years old. On the court, the rivals hugged each other sweetly and smiled at each other. Later in her autobiography, Sharapova will write that after that match, Serena cried in the locker room and promised: “I will never lose to this bitch again.”
The American did not keep her promise in the next match — Sharapova beat her at the final tournament. But after that, Williams took the initiative and never lost to Sharapova until the end of her career, including victories in three TBS finals and in the decisive match of the London Olympics, where Serena gave only one game to her opponent.
The rivalry between Williams and Sharapova sometimes extended beyond the court. In 2013, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the American lashed out at Maria, complaining about the boring interviews of a top-5 tennis player who «will still be invited to cool parties.» Williams then added that this tennis player was dating a guy «with a black heart.» The author of the interview suggested that she was talking about Sharapova and Grigor Dimitrov, who dated Serena before Maria. In response, Sharapova suggested that Williams talk about how she stole coach Patrick Mouratoglou from his family.
It later became known that Williams apologized to Sharapova. And in 2016, after Maria’s disqualification, Serena supported her: “She said that she was ready to take responsibility, and this requires courage. She demonstrates courage in everything, and this moment was no exception.”
After the release of Sharapova's autobiography, Unstoppable, Williams said she was surprised by how much information about herself she read in the book. “And not always the truth,” the American added. And the episode with tears after the Wimbledon final, which, according to Sharapova, became the main motivation for Williams in head-to-head matches, she commented simply: “It would be more surprising if I didn’t cry after the Wimbledon final.”
Sharapova and Williams competed on the court for 15 years, and Serena won 20 out of 22 matches. The last time they met on the court was at the US Opened in 2019. And two years later, social networks exploded with a photo of the Williams sisters and Sharapova together at the Met Gala party.
“We talked, got along well, laughed,” Serena commented on the meeting. “We discussed tennis. It was very, very fun, and I really enjoyed it.” It seems that there is no trace left of the former enmity.
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