No love lost between Sharapova and Serena
LONDON — Some rivalries are born of a shared greatness that elevates both players on to a higher plane. Others are based on mutual antipathy, mistrust and the occasional flash of malice — such as that between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
The bad blood between the two stems back 11 years, to Sharapova’s break out win here as a 17-year-old on Centre Court, and incorporates a rally of withering personal attacks that will be renewed in a semifinal clash this morning between the two.
Their dominance, however, applies to different spheres.
On court, there is little comparison. Williams, 33, holds 20 grandslam singles titles, two short of Steffi Graf’s record, to Sharapova’s five. Their head-to-head record makes for even more brutal reading. Since 2005, Williams possesses a 16-0 record versus Sharapova, who has only managed to take a single set in their previous 12 encounters.
In the commercial arena, however, it is Sharapova, 28, who is the undisputed champion. Williams boasts nearly twice the career prize money but is a distant second to the Russian’s off-court earnings. With a phalanx of sponsors ranging from Evian to Tag Heuer as well as her own confectionary line (Sugarpova), Sharapova is the world’s highest paid female athlete with estimated annual earnings of $29.7 million US, which puts her 26th in Forbes’ unisex list that has Williams 21 places lower.
The last time the two met at Wimbledon’s Centre Court was in the final of the London 2012 Olympics: Sharapova was eviscerated 6-0, 6-1 in 45 minutes.