"One of the first to text me when I'm having a tough moment or great win": When Maria Sharapova opened up about her relationship with Billie Jean King

Maria Sharapova spoke about her relationship with tennis legend Billie Jean King after her win at the 2008 Australian Open.

The Russian was seeded fifth in the tournament and reached the final with straight-sets wins over Jelena Tosic, Lindsay Davenport, Elena Vesnina, Elena Dementieva, Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic.

Sharapova faced Ana Ivanovic in the final and beat her 7-5, 6-3 to win her third Grand Slam singles title, doing so without dropping a single set throughout the tournament.

The then 20-year-old said in her post-match press conference that she received a congratulatory message from Billie Jean King. She later spoke about her very first meeting with the American legend, which came during a tournament when she was in her early teens, revealing that King had a very normal conversation with her.

"It's interesting. I think the first time I met her was when I was playing a junior tournament in Roehampton when I was 13 or 14 years old," the Russian said. I remember her coming to both of my parents and myself and just having a normal conversation, like, 'Hello, how are you? How is everything going? How is your training?'"

I was like, Whoa. That's pretty amazing. Billie Jean King just came up to us. From that point on, she's just always been, you know, really supportive. I actually don't see her that often, apart from World Team Tennis and some of the Grand Slams that she comes to," Sharapova added.

The Russian also disclosed that Billie Jean King was always among the first people to text her whenever she had a good win or was having a tough time, thanking her for her kind actions.

"But, you know, she's always one of the first people to text me when either I'm having a tough moment or a great win. It's wonderful because she's just done so much for the game and such a great supporter of the sport. You know, to spend, whatever it is, a minute of her life sending me a text, is wonderful, you know, wishing me the best," Maria Sharapova said.

Maria Sharapova finished the 2008 season with 32 wins from 36 matches

Maria Sharapova during the 2020 Australian Open

The 2008 season was a pretty good one for Maria Sharapova as she won 32 out of 36 matches. The Russian had a 18-match winning streak that started at the Australian Open and ended in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open (now called the Indian Wells Open).

Apart from the Australian Open, Sharapova won the Qatar Ladies Open and the now-defunct Bausch & Lomb Championships. She also regained the World No. 1 ranking during 2008. However, the Russian's season came to an end after she suffered a shoulder injury during the Rogers Cup (now known as the National Bank Open).