Serena and Maria: it’s complicated

When Serena Williams claimed her record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam at Australian Open 2017 it was inevitable that attention would soon turn to the absent colleagues who have typically proven the ‘next best’ performers at major events.

“Vika (Azarenka) is a mother now and Maria (Sharapova) is practising. Do you miss the competition against them?” a reporter wondered of the reappointed world No.1.

“Absolutely,” said Williams, before she sidestepped as deftly as she does on the court. “I feel like Victoria will be back hopefully soon. I feel like it will be good to see competition. She’s always been my greatest competition. It’s always great to play against her.”

That Williams would completely disregard Sharapova in her response would come as no surprise to the observers who’ve witnessed the increasingly icy relationship between two of the world’s most marketable female athletes of the past two decades.

But if deciphering the on-court glares, abbreviated handshakes and clipped post-match responses when either is questioned on the other is simple enough, pinpointing exactly where the relationship between Williams and Sharapova deteriorated is not.

A Rolling Stone feature on Williams, published in 2013, certainly didn’t help. Among many topics, the in-depth profile by Stephen Rodrick included the world No.1’s thoughts on players who immerse themselves so deeply in tennis.

“There are people who live, breathe and dress tennis. I mean, seriously, give it a rest,” Williams was reported to have said. “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, go for it.”

Williams’ specifics on a “top five player” led to the obvious conclusion she was referencing Sharapova – particularly given that Grigor Dimitrov, who Williams herself was reported to have once dated, was now linked publicly to the No.2 Russian.

The world No.1 subsequently noted that she “made it a point to reach out to Maria, because she was inadvertently brought into the situation by assumptions made by the reporter” but if an apology was made, the offended subject was having none of it.

At Wimbledon that year, Sharapova returned fire as she pointed to Williams’s relationship with Patrick Mouratoglou, who was said to be her boyfriend as well as her coach.

“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,” the Russian said.

Ouch. There could be no doubting the disharmony after that exchange. Still, it didn’t quite explain the origins of it; such friction is developed over years, not months.

There had in fact been many years since the first signs of acrimony. Sharapova was only 17 years old when she created an ill-advised Facebook post after her second consecutive win over Williams – who was hampered by an abdominal injury – to win the WTA Championships in 2004.

“Here’s the great dinner I had at Spago to celebrate beating Serena Williams for the second time in a row (remember Wimbledon last summer?)” Sharapova wrote, having also upset Williams to win her first Grand Slam title at the All England Club that year.

The Facebook post has long been deleted but memories aren’t so easily erased. Pointedly, Williams hasn’t lost a match to Sharapova in the 13 years since, surrendering just three sets in 18 consecutive wins. Seven of those wins have been in finals, three of them delivering the prolific champion with Grand Slam win.

Asked how she’s amassed that impressive record against such a highly-credentialled opponent, Williams points to the standard Sharapova demands. “(There’s) something about her game. I like the way she hits the ball,” said the world No.1. “Plus, when I play her, I know automatically I have to step up my game. I think that makes me play better. When I play better, when I’m forced to play better, I don’t know, I do well.”

Sharapova understandably has a different view. “It’s motivating because she’s at a different level,” she surmised after her most recent loss to Williams, in the quarterfinals at Australian Open 2016. “She makes you go back to the drawing board, not just for me, but for many other players. She makes you work. That’s inspiring.”

It’s not unreasonable to question how much those assessments ring true. Asked directly and repeatedly to assess each other’s game after every match, Williams and Sharapova have offered many platitudes over the years.

At the same time, those highly developed professionals can at least demonstrate respect. And within that, they might occasionally even have each other’s back. When Sharapova made the shocking revelation that she tested positive for the banned substance meldonium in March 2016, for example, Williams was one of the few players to show a degree of support.

“I think she’s always shown courage and heart in everything she’s done, and this is no different,” Williams said. “It’s just taking responsibility, which she admitted that she was willing and ready to do. (I) just hope for the best for everybody in that situation.”

A cynical view is that Williams could afford to be positive, knowing the shocking situation would almost certainly lead to her at last claiming the one throne where Sharapova had always sat – that of the world’s most marketable female athlete.

And indeed, as a string of high-profile sponsors abandoned or froze lucrative endorsement contracts with the Russian, Williams was subsequently named by influential Forbes magazine as the highest-earning sportswoman of 2016.

A more generous view is that the lack of a friendship is an inevitable consequence of their personality types. Sharapova has made no secret of her reluctance to spend off-court time with other players, once describing the locker room as “my least favourite place in the world”.

And while Williams has close friendships with Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka – as well as a tight bond with sister Venus – she can be unforgiving of any player who delivers a loss, especially on a big occasion. It showed after the 2004 Wimbledon final, when Serena’s generous praise of her teenage conqueror was accompanied by the hint of a threat.

“I don’t like to lose to the same person too many times,” warned Williams. “You look at Venus and I, when we lose to someone … we go home and try to ameliorate things.”

How ominous – and revelatory – those words would prove to be. For the most likely base of tension between the two women could be as simple as respective desires to always win.

Considering their Grand Slam prizes, rankings records and glamorous off-court lives, it’s easy to forget how far Williams and Sharapova have each come over the years. The former, of course, started her unparalleled career on pot-holed courts in crime-affected Compton and the latter left her mother behind in Russia when she relocated to the United States to develop her game at age seven.

Too much has always been at stake for either Williams or Sharapova to be polite when it comes to adding to their illustrious success. And as the achievements of one woman mirrors and fuels the desires of the other, it’s only natural that their relationship will always be accompanied by sheer fight.