Maria Sharapova hits back at Serena Williams after French Open exit

Maria Sharapova insisted it would have been ‘strange’ for her not to feature Serena Williams prominently in her autobiography, while denying the American’s claim that the book was ‘100% hearsay’.

The Russian was due to meet Williams in the last-16 of the French Open but the 23-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from the contest with a pectoral injury.

Prior to the scheduled clash, Williams questioned comments made by Sharapova in her book ‘Unstoppable: My Life So Far’.

‘I don’t think she’s ever forgiven me for it’ – witnessing this ‘low and vulnerable moment,’ Sharapova wrote.

‘I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her, against all odds, at Wimbledon. I think she hated me for taking something that she believed belonged to her.

‘I think she hated me for seeing her at her lowest moment. But mostly I think she hated me for hearing her cry. She’s never forgiven me for it.

‘Not long after the tournament, I heard Serena told a friend – who then told me – “I will never lose to that little b**** again”.’

But after Williams had questioned why she was so heavily involved in the book while dismissing the comments as ‘hearsay’, Sharapova hit back and insisted that she wouldn’t pen lies.

‘Well, I think it would be strange for me not to include someone that I have competed against for so many years,’ she said after her quarter-final defeat at the hands of Garbine Muguruza.

‘I think there is a lot of autobiographies out in the world, especially in the sporting world, that don’t necessarily speak about whether they were rivals or someone they competed against.

‘And I think we played many matches. Some of those matches were very defining for me. It would be very strange, I think, if I didn’t write anything about her.

‘I think everyone would ask me questions, as well. So I’m not entirely sure how to go about that answer.

When you’re writing an autobiography, I don’t think there is any reason to write anything that’s not true.’

On her comprehensive 6-2 6-1 defeat to Muguruza, Sharapova added: ‘I think she did a lot of things better than I did.

‘I think she was the aggressive one. She had a lot more depth in the ball. I think my shots were a lot more forced. She served a lot better than I did.’