Serena Williams 'disappointed' by Maria Sharapova 'hearsay' autobiography, looks forward to fourth round against her

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  • A new chapter in the Serena Williams-Maria Sharapova rivalry will be written after the superstar pair set up a highly-anticipated fourth round with wins at Roland Garros on Saturday.

    The last time Williams and Sharapova played was in the 2016 Australian Open quarter-finals, which was the same day the Russian failed a drugs test that eventually led to a 15-month suspension.

    Williams won the Australian Open the following year while pregnant, and returned from maternity leave to the tour last March, married and with a baby girl she named Olympia.

    Sharapova and Williams have a tense history, as words were aimed at each other in press conferences in the past.

    On Saturday, Williams took the opportunity to express her disappointment at some of the things Sharapova said about her in her recently-published autobiography ‘Unstoppable’. Sharapova attributed Williams’ fierce 19-2 head-to-head record against her to the Russian’s upset win over Williams in the Wimbledon final back in 2004.

  • Karolina Pliskova rues her poor performance against Maria Sharapova in Roland Garros defeat

  • “I was changing and she was bawling. I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her, against all odds, at Wimbledon,” said Sharapova in her book.

    Williams responded on Saturday after her 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 11 seed Julia Goerges, saying: “I think the book was 100 per cent hearsay, at least all the stuff I read and the quotes that I read, which was a little bit disappointing.

    “I have cried in the locker room many times after a loss, and that’s what I have seen a lot of people do. I think it’s normal. I think if anything, it shows the passion and the desire and the will that you have to want to go out there and do the best.”

    Williams insisted that she never “had any hard feelings towards her”, which is why she was letdown by the statements in the autobiography. She also noted that she never said anything negative about Sharapova during her doping ordeal.

    “One of the things I always say, I feel like women, especially, should bring each other up,” said Williams.

    “A lot of people always assume that I feel a different way and it’s not true. If anything, I feel like we should encourage each other, and the success of one female should be the inspiration to another.

    “Before her incident of drugs or not, I just feel like she was doing good before that. So I feel like now she’s doing well again, and I have never had any hard feelings toward her.”

    A lot has changed for both Williams and Sharapova, and the excitement surrounding this match-up – which was flagged the second the draw was made 10 days ago – is certainly palpable here in Paris.

    “I think any time you play against Serena you know what you’re up against. You know the challenge that is upon you. Despite the record that I have against her, I always look forward to coming out on the court and competing against the best player. I will look forward to doing that,” Sharapova told reporters at the French Open following her ruthless 6-2, 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova on Saturday.

    Sharapova hasn’t defeated Williams in 14 years and is frank when it comes to discussing the reasons behind that drought.

    “I think there is a lot of things in her game that she’s done much better than I have. I mean, the records don’t certainly elaborate on that. Numbers don’t lie,” said the Russian five-time Grand Slam champion.

    “But of course, I came into Europe and Stuttgart with not a great record, not playing great tennis with a lot of injuries, and have been able to turn that around a little bit.

    “Been able to put myself in this position of playing better tennis. That’s what I continue to work for, of course. You don’t put those hours on the back courts in Bradenton-frickin’-Florida to just show up at events like this and not bring it.”

    Some might be surprised by the way Sharapova eased past Pliskova but not the latter’s compatriot Petra Kvitova, who saw her 13-match winning streak come to an end at the hands of 25th-seeded Estonian Anett Kontaveit on Saturday.

    “It’s not a surprise to me, actually. I think that she’s playing great game. She had a great run in Rome as well. She loves to play here. Otherwise, she’s not winning two times here,” Kvitova said of Sharapova.

    “Maybe the score a little bit surprised me, but I think that she’s on the good way back, and that’s how it is. I think it’s a big win for her confidence.”

    Williams, who has played just seven matches this season, considers Sharapova the favourite entering this showdown.

    “She’s been playing for over a year now. I just started. So I’m just really trying to get my bearings and trying to feel out where I am and see where I can go,” said the 36-year-old Williams.

    “But I think this will be another test. I think this is just one of her best surfaces, and she always does really, really well here. So this would be a good opportunity for me kind of to see where I am and just hopefully continue to go forward.”

    Romanian world No. 1 Simona Halep, who was scheduled on the new Court 18 located on the far end of the Roland Garros grounds, survived a tight first set against Andrea Petkovic before the German suffered a knee problem early in the second. Two-time Paris runner-up Halep booked a place in the fourth round with a 7-5, 6-0 victory and next faces in-form Belgian Elise Mertens.

    “Today was a little bit different, because the court is pretty small, and I felt that all the people were on court with me,” said Halep, whose bizarre court scheduling was met with outrage from many fans online.

    “So it was tough to adjust myself, coming from Chatrier it’s a bit difficult. But I just needed a few games and then I think I played okay. I think I played well.”

    Reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens fought tooth and nail, stopping Camila Giorgi twice from serving out the match to defeat the Italian 4-6, 6-1, 8-6 and set up a fourth round against Kontaveit.

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