They're the two biggest stars of women’s tennis with their talent matched only by their mutual dislike of one another.
And yesterday the froidure between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova showed no sign of thawing.
The intense rivalry is made all the more complex off court by the two women’s deeply intertwined personal lives.
In a prickly press conference ahead of this week’s Wimbledon Championships, Miss Sharapova, 26, fired the opening salvo of the fortnight.
She berated World No 1 Miss Williams for comments made in an interview in America about her being ‘boring’.
Miss Sharapova – who is dating Serena’s ex-boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov – was also scathing about Serena’s relationship with married tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Miss Williams, 31, had said of her fierce rival: ‘There are people who live, breath and dress tennis. I mean, seriously, give it a rest.
‘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 [Dimitrov], go for it.’
Yesterday the Russian-born, World No 3 ace, hit back, saying: ‘If Serena wants to talk about something personal, she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend who was married, who is getting a divorce and who has kids – and not draw attention to other things.’
Miss Sharapova and Miss Williams, 31, have had a notoriously competitive relationship on the court, fuelled by the fact Miss Sharapova hasn’t beaten her rival in nine years.
