Maria Sharapova took aim at arch-rival Serena Williams Saturday as
she told the World No.1 to stick to tennis rather than courting
controversy.
Earlier this week,
Williams had to apologize for comments she made to Rolling Stone
magazine over the rape of a 16-year-old girl by two high school American
football players in Ohio.
Eyebrows were also raised in the same article over a passage which appeared to reference Sharapova.
It accused an unnamed
player of being "boring" and made unflattering remarks about her choice
of boyfriend. Sharapova is dating Bulgarian tennis player Grigo
Dimitrov.
Sharapova, the third seed
at Wimbledon and bidding for her first title at SW19 since 2004, used
the pre-tournament media conference to hit back.
"We have a tremendous
amount of respect for what we do on the court. I just think she should
be talking about her accomplishments, her achievements, rather than
everything else that's just getting attention and controversy,' the
Russian was quoted by the UK's Press Association.
"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.
"(She should) 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."
16-time grand slam
winner Williams is reportedly in a relationship with her French coach
Patrick Mouratoglou, but neither has spoken publicly about it.
She has won three of
last four grand slams under his guidance, the latest at the French Open
where she beat defending champion Sharapova in a hard-fought final in
Paris.
On Tuesday, Williams
came under fire, particularly on Twitter and other social media, when
her reported remarks to Rolling Stone about the rape were made public on
its website.
"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," she was quoted.
The following day,
Williams released a statement on her personal website, saying she was
"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," it
said.
Sharapova said Williams
would do well to steer clear of such issues. "I obviously have many
opinions about different things in life," she said.
"But 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.
"If I speak to my friends, that's one thing. But I don't go out and try to create things that shouldn't be really talked about."
Meanwhile, in the pre-Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Eastbourne, Sharapova's compatriot Elena Vesnina took the title, beating Jamie Hampton of the United States in the final.
Simona Halep of
Romania also warmed up by taking the title in s-Hertogenbosch in the
Netherlands with a straight sets win over Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.
Frenchman Nicolas Mahut,
renowned for his world record marathon match with John Isner at
Wimbledon in 2010, took his maiden ATP title at the same event.
He beat favorite Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, also in straight sets.
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