Serena Williams reignites feud with Maria Sharapova
<p>Serena Williams has hit back over false claims Maria Sharapova made about her in her book titled <em>Unstoppable: My Life So Far</em>, which was released last year.</p>
<p>Williams said she was disappointed with the claims made about her, which she described as “hearsay”. </p>
<p>Sharapova – who Williams has beaten 18 times in a row and is about to face her fierce rival ahead of their French Open clash – wrote in her recent memoir that Serena “hated” her for hearing her cry after the 2004 Wimbledon final.</p>
<p>“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 disappointing,” Williams stated, after her third-round win at the French Open against Julia Georges.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>The tennis champ added, “It’s a Wimbledon final, you know. So, it’s just, like, I think it would be more shocking if I wasn’t in tears.”</p>
<p>Williams said she was stunned how much she was mentioned in the Russian tennis player’s book, but also upset that she was portrayed as disliking Sharapova.</p>
<p>“The book was a lot about me,” Williams said. “I was surprised about that, to be honest. You know, I was, like, ‘Oh, OK.’ I didn’t expect to be reading a book about me, that wasn’t necessarily true.”</p>
<p>Playing at the French Open, her first tournament since becoming a mum to Alexis Olympia last September, Williams continued, “I don’t have any negative feelings towards her, which again, was a little disappointing to see in that hearsay book. Especially having a daughter, I feel like negativity is taught. One of the things I always say, I feel like women, especially, should bring each other up.”</p>
<p>She added, “If anything, I feel like we should encourage each other, and the success of one female should be the inspiration to another, and I have said that 1000 times.”</p>
<p>Sharapova, who returned to competitive tennis in April 2017 after a 15-month suspension for doping, also wrote in her book: “Serena and I should be friends; we have the same passion. But we are not. I think, to some extent, we have driven each other. Maybe that’s what it takes … Who knows? Someday, when all this is in our past, maybe we’ll become friends.”</p>
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