LONDON: Maria Sharapova has blasted America’s own Serena Williams for her controversial comments over a high-profile rape case and also criticized the Wimbledon Champion’s colourful private life.
We say save the battle for the Tennis Match and let Wimbledon begin in peace. There will be enough time for fighting on the Tennis Court and whatever comments Serena made she has apologized for.
You might win a point or two in popularity Maria Sharapova but the real test is whether you can beat the defending champion on Center Court. A volley of verbal attacks will not get you to match point and that’s what you should be focusing on!
In what is being considered an astonishing attack on Serena,(who also just happens to be the better Tennis player and world’s number one) comes just before The Championships get underway at Wimbledon. We think this is way out of line and this feud will no doubt continue onto the US Open. The remarks also show a distinctive lack of sportsmanship from Sharapova.
Williams, the 16-time Grand Slam title-winner, has apologized for her comments regarding the rape of a 16-year-old girl by two high school American football players in the Ohio town of Steubenville and that should be it. Yet, this hasn’t stopped Sharapova from entering in the mix and gaining headlines at her rivals expense.
Williams got involved in the Ohio rape case when she gave an interview to Rolling Stone Magazine in which she was quoted as saying:”I’m not blaming the girl, but if you’re a 16-year-old and you’re drunk like that, your parents should teach you — don’t take drinks from other people,” the magazine quoted Williams as saying. “She’s 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn’t remember? It could have been much worse. She’s lucky. Obviously I don’t know, maybe she wasn’t a virgin, but she shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different.”
Realizing the painful effects of her comments, Williams, 31, has subsequently apologized and offered further explanation: “What happened in Steubenville was a real shock for me. I was deeply saddened,” Williams said. “For someone to be raped, and at only 16, is such a horrible tragedy! For both families involved – that of the rape victim and of the accused. “I am currently reaching out to the girl’s family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article. What was written — what I supposedly said — is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame.”
Yet despite Serena’s Mia Colpa Sharapova has decided to hurl a Grand Slam of attacks on the rival she can’t seem to beat. She said:
“I was definitely sad to hear what she had to say about the whole case,” said Sharapova, who was defeated by Williams in the French Open final earlier this month. “I just think she should be talking about her accomplishments, her achievements, rather than everything else that’s just getting attention and controversy.”
Sharapova, who has not beaten her rival Serena since 2004, also criticized Williams’s love life after the American had aimed a thinly-disguised jibe at the Russian’s affair with Bulgarian player, Grigor Dimitrov, believed to be a former Williams boyfriend. “There are people who live, breathe and dress tennis. I mean, seriously, give it a rest,”
Williams told Rolling Stone Magazine without naming the Russian. “She begins every interview with ‘I’m so happy. I’m so lucky’ — it’s so boring. 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.”
Sharapova, upset at the insinuation, hit back on Saturday at Williams’s romance with her French coach Patrick Mouratoglou. “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,” said Sharapova. “Talk about other things, but not draw attention to other things. She has so much in her life, many positives, and I think that’s what it should be about.”
Sharapova said she always makes a point of trying to keep her private life under wraps. “What I do on the court and what I talk about in my press conference is strictly about my career. I’m sure people want to know more, but yet I try to keep my personal life private,” said the Russian.
Which begs the questions as to why Sharapova has bothered to attack Serena in the first place?
Certainly, the greatest Tennis championship in the world does not need to begin under these circumstances and Sharapova should keep her fight with Serena confined to the court. Indeed, based on her track record Maria will need all the help she can get to beat defending champion Serena.
