Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova shared one of the most popular rivalries in WTA history, despite the one-sided nature of how their battles usually went. After trailing 1-2 at one point, Williams went on to dominate the Russian as the years went on, finally finishing with a 20-2 record against her.
However, their matches never stopped being spectacles for fans, no matter the surface and the tournament they played at. Their careers started with plenty of animosity between the pair, but eventually the relationship grew up to become one of mutual respect and fair competition.
In a 2011 interview with the press ahead of their battle in Stanford, Serena Williams opened up about their rivalry, emphasizing that it was never ‘personal’ for her. The American insisted that even though they both looked at each other as the ‘ultimate enemy’ on the court, it was just out of a sense of competitiveness.
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"She's probably going to look at me as the ultimate enemy out there as I will do the same with her. And we're going to go do the best we can each. It's nothing personal, this is a job for me, and I'm trying to get paid. I've been off a year," Serena Williams said.
Sharapova expressed a similar sentiment, stating that the rivalry had made her develop as a player and a person. She also admitted Williams' dominance over her, with the American leading her by 10 Grand Slam titles at the time.
"You both develop as people and players and have been through great moments and tough ones, but at the end of the day, she has 13 Grand Slams and I have three," Maria Sharapova said.
"Maria Sharapova's sweet, she's a nice person" - Serena Williams
In the interview, Serena Williams also lavished praise on Maria Sharapova's "sweet" and "quiet" personality, recalling the time she was glad to see the Russian pop by at the ESPY awards.
"She's sweet, she's a nice person. She's quiet, but hey, so am I sometimes, especially before a match. I was sitting close to [singer] Justin Beiber, and I wanted to meet him so bad. I was too stupid and nervous to say anything. And I saw Maria, and I was like, yay, somebody. And I was like, gosh, I wish you were sitting next to me, it would have been a lot easier," Serena Williams said.
Williams won the Stanford battle in straight sets. Years later, in 2019, the duo had their final clash on the WTA Tour, in the first round of the US Open. In a controversial match that saw the American's husband Alexis Ohanian in attendance, Serena Williams won in straight sets again to cap off their rivalry.
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