"Serena Williams hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her" - When Maria Sharapova revealed shock details about her relationship with American

Maria Sharapova once shared a candid revelation about what Serena Williams truly thought of her. The duo shared one of the most iconic rivalries tennis has ever witnessed.

Williams and Sharapova’s rivalry began at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, where the former was the two-time defending champion after beating her sister Venus in back-to-back finals. Sharapova, meanwhile, was a rising teenager eager to make her breakthrough.

Although Williams was the clear favorite to win again, Sharapova stunned the world by becoming the third-youngest woman to claim the Wimbledon title at just 17. She also became the first Russian woman to lift the trophy, etching her name in tennis history and cementing her place on the big stage.

After that final, Maria Sharapova recalled walking into the locker room and finding Serena Williams sobbing uncontrollably. In her 2017 autobiography 'Unstoppable: My Life So Far,' she revealed that she believed this moment was the reason the American went on to “hate” her.

"People often wonder why I have had so much trouble beating Serena; she’s owned me in the past ten years. My record against her is 2-19. In analysing this, people talk about Serena’s strength, her serve and confidence, how her particular game matches up to my particular game, and, sure there is truth to all of that; but, to me, the real answer was there, in this locker room, where I was changing and she was bawling," she wrote.

Maria Sharapova added;

"I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her, against all odds, at Wimbledon. But mostly I think she hated me for hearing her cry. She’s never forgiven me for it. Not long after the tournament, I heard that Serena told a friend, who then told me, ‘I will never lose to that little b*tch again.'"

Over the years, however, the relationship between the two legends underwent a drastic shift, evolving in ways few would have expected.

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Maria Sharapova: "Serena Williams and I should be friends, but we are not"

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams hug each other at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2025 | Image Source: Getty

That same year, in 2017, Maria Sharapova openly admitted that she wished she and Serena Williams could be friends, since they shared the same love and passion for tennis. However, she also acknowledged why it wasn’t possible: both thrived on the competitive fire and edge they drew from one another to perform at their best.

Sharapova told the media:

"Serena and I should be friends: we love the same thing, we have the same passion. But we are not friends—not at all. I think, to some extent, we have driven each other."

"Maybe that’s better than being friends. Maybe that’s what it takes to fire up the proper fury … Someday, when all this is in our past, maybe we’ll become friends. Or not," she added.

Over time, their relationship softened and blossomed into genuine friendship off the court, especially after retirement. The bond grew so strong that Sharapova invited Williams to deliver her Hall of Fame induction speech in 2025, a request the American gladly fulfilled.