Maria Sharapova kept Serena Williams ‘secret’ | Sports News

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams had a “secret” hour-long telephone call the place the Russian requested her longtime rival if she would do her International Tennis Hall of Fame induction speech, which might later shock the sporting world. Sharapova, 38, was inducted into the Hall of Fame over the weekend forward of the beginning of the US Open singles motion at Flushing Meadows, and it was none different than Williams who launched her.

During their enjoying years, Sharapova and Williams had been fierce rivals. The pair first confronted off in Miami in 2004, the place Williams, already a six-time Grand Slam winner, obtained the higher of her 16-year-old opponent. However, later that yr, Sharapova obtained her revenge at Wimbledon, beating the American within the remaining at age 17, changing into the second youngest to win it within the Open period.

The teenage Russian sensation went on to beat Williams at their subsequent assembly during the 2004 Masters Cup earlier than shedding the subsequent 18 consecutive matches of their rivalry. The pair met 22 instances, 4 of which got here in Grand Slam finals, and regardless of it being perceived as a one-sided rivalry based mostly on file, it was one of the best the game needed to offer.

Like Williams, five-time Slam winner Sharapova was a massively marketable celebrity, however they differed as a result of she additionally had a repute for being polarizing. Loud grunting and frosty relationships with rivals resembling Williams constructed that repute. Sharapova got here throughout as aloof, reserved, and really business-focused—considerably unapproachable.

This is why it was a big shock when Williams stepped up to present Sharapova’s induction speech final weekend. Sharapova reached out to Williams to ask whether or not she would do the dignity in an hour-long telephone call, which they managed to keep “secret.”

“It was the first person I thought of. I sent her a message… I said ‘Do you have a minute?’ I got a response. We spoke for an hour, and it happened. I just can’t believe we kept it a secret for that long,” Sharapova advised ESPN.

“I think we really let our guard down. There was always a deep, mutual respect for what we did. It was like a silent known of the effort, the sacrifice, of everything we have to go through to be champions.

“There’s just one trophy on the finish. The huge trophy. There’s a little trophy, however we needed the massive trophy. We stood between these trophies. We had been aggressive. So it is good to construct that friendship following all these matches.”

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The feelings were mutual. Williams also lifted the lid on their relationship in a heartfelt speech, where she likened Sharapova to her older sister, Venus Williams, who returned to Flushing Meadows this summer.

“I am probably the last person you expected to see here tonight, but honestly, a few years ago, I probably would have said the same,” Williams said from the stage. “A few months ago, Maria texted me that she needed to talk…

“When I referred to as her, she requested me if I might introduce her into the Hall of Fame, and earlier than she even completed her query, I stated, ‘Yes!’ loud, instantly, with my entire chest, as a result of, of course, it is Maria. I used to be honored.”

“She calls it the highlight of her career, and I call it one of my hardest losses,” Williams added on her loss to Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004. “The match didn’t just make her a champion, it actually made her a star. It launched one of the most talked-about and controversial rivalries in tennis. For more than a decade and a half, every time we faced each other, the atmosphere shifted. It was thick. The tension was real, the fire was real.”

“There are only a few players in my career who challenged me to be the very best every single time we stepped out on the court, Maria Sharapova was one of them,” she continued. “Whenever I saw her name next to mine in the draw, I made sure I practiced harder.”

When the speech was completed, which drew laughs and smiles from Williams and Sharapova, in addition to the group, the pair embraced on stage.