Was Serena’s drug rant a backhanded dig at Maria?
TENNIS champion Serena Williams has had a thinlyveiled dig at her rival Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova, 30, was banned from professional tennis for 15 months for taking the banned drug meldonium.
But Williams, 35, wrote in an open letter on the chat website Reddit: ‘It has been said that I use drugs. No, I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage.’
The American 39-time Grand Slam winner, who never mentions her Russian rival by name, adds in the post: ‘I’ve been called man because I appeared outwardly strong.
‘It has been said I don’t belong in women’s sports, that I belong in men’s because I look stronger than many other women do.
‘No, I just work hard and I was born with this badass body and proud of it.’
In her new memoir Sharapova describes being intimidated by Williams’ ‘thick arms and thick legs’.