Maria Sharapova added to the discord between her and fellow tennis star Serena Williams on Sunday. Sharapova vs. Williams is starting to get a little bit like the 2pac vs. Biggie of women’s tennis. As you no doubt heard, Serena made some controversial statements earlier this week when she implied that the victim in the Steubenville rape case was partially at fault. Williams later apologized to both the public and the family.
Still, the damage was more than done. Just as many hardcore Penn State football fans have learned the past couple years, America doesn’t take too kindly to those sympathetic to rapists.
Maria Sharapova basically told Williams to “shut up and play.”
USA Today:
“Obviously I have a tremendous amount of respect for Serena and what she’s achieved on the court,” Sharapova said. “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.”
This “people in glass houses” style attack is an alleged countermeasure. Serena Williams has been openly judgmental of the personal life of Maria Sharapova, telling Rolling Stone:
“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.” Many assume the veiled shots were about Sharapova, who is now dating Grigor Dimitrov, one of Serena’s rumored exes. So you have the “sloppy seconds” factor into this equation too.
This was the same Rolling Stone article that featured Williams’ controversial statements about the Steubenville, OH rape victim. Wimbledon begins Monday June 24th; giving this beef a bit of a WWE feel. Williams is ranked #1, and is the favorite in the upcoming Grand Slam event. However, she now has two controversies to distract from taking the title.
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