Maria Sharapova Takes Verbal Shot at Serena Williams in Regard to Recent Rolling Stone Article

(June 22, 2013) In a pre-Wimbledon news conference on Saturday Maria Sharapova took aim at Serena Williams in regard to a recent Rolling Stone article where the author Stephen Rodrick did an extensive interview with the world No. 1. Rodrick made an assumption, that certain comments made by Williams about an unnamed player were about Sharapova.

When asked about the article Sharapova said: “Obviously I have a tremendous amount of respect for Serena and what she’s achieved on the court. You can never take anything away from that.

“I was definitely sad to hear what she had to say about the whole case.

“As for myself, or whether it was about somebody else, nothing personal, you know. We’ve talked to Serena many times, and I know everyone tries to create rivalries between us here and there.

“At the end of the day, we have a tremendous amount of respect for what we do on the court. I just think she should be talking about her accomplishments, her achievements, rather than everything else that’s just getting attention and controversy.

“If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and is getting a divorce and has kids. Talk about other things, but not draw attention to other things. She has so much in her life, many positives, and I think that’s what it should be about.”

The section of the interview in Rolling Stone article which was posted online in full on Tuesday in which comments made by Williams were thought by the author to be in reference to Sharapova:

“There are people who live, breathe and dress tennis. I mean, seriously, give it a rest.” Serena exits the car and the conversation moves on to a top-five player who is now in love. “She begins every interview with ‘I’m so happy. I’m so lucky’ – it’s so boring,” says Serena in a loud voice. “She’s still not going to be invited to the cool parties. And, hey, if she wants to be with the guy with a black heart, go for it.” (An educated guess is she’s talking about Sharapova, who is now dating Grigor Dimitrov, one of Serena’s rumored exes.)

Initially the article drew attention for Williams’ comments made about the victim of the Steubenville , Ohio rape case for which she apologized on Wednesday on her website. Williams said that the girl involved should not have put herself in that position. Two Steubenville football players were convicted of rape. The case drew much media frenzy due to the students use of social media to openly gossip about it.

As the defending Wimbledon champion, Williams is scheduled to hold a pre-tournament news conference at Noon on Sunday

UPDATE – Serena Williams Comments on Steubenville Rape Case in Rolling Stone Interview; Apologizes, Issues Statement