Showdown takes bizarre twist
The looming showdown between tennis rivals Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova at the French Open has taken a bizarre turn after the American had to deny she was intimidated by her opponent’s ‘‘supermodel good looks’’.
The ‘‘extraordinary’’ theory had reportedly been floated by Donald Trump on a golf course more than a decade ago after he observed Sharapova had ‘‘alluring shoulders’’.
Williams will renew her heated on-court rivalry with Sharapova when they meet in a hotly anticipated fourth-round contest at the French Open tomorrow.
The American has has strung together an 18-match winning streak against her opponent that dates back to 2005.
Hype around the contest has been building and led to the most unusual exchange between Williams and an unidentified reporter at a press conference in Paris yesterday.
The reporter acknowledged Williams must want to get back to her daughter but asked her to ‘‘work with me here, please’’.
‘‘We’re in this together, baby,’’ he said, to which Williams replied: ‘‘No we’re not; you’re not going home to a screaming baby.’’
Undeterred, the reporter went on to tell Williams he’d been waiting ‘‘about 14 years to ask you this question’’.
‘‘After the 2004 Wimbledon match with Maria, I had the opportunity to interview Donald Trump on his [Los Angeles] golf course, and he said that Maria’s shoulders were incredibly alluring and then he came up with this extraordinary analysis: That you were intimidated by her supermodel good looks.
‘‘My question is: Have you ever been intimidated by anyone on a tennis court and what are your thoughts about the occurrence?’’
Williams responded: ‘‘I honestly don’t have any thoughts about that. I can’t say I have been intimidated by anyone. ‘‘That’s all. That’s it.’’
A clearly unimpressed Williams also levelled criticism at Sharapova for appearing to take credit for the American’s winning streak in her autobiography.
The Russian suggested in the book that her rival was so traumatised by her loss to the then-17-year-old in the 2004 Wimbledon final she cried and was still driven by the defeat.
‘‘The book was 100 per cent hearsay, at least all the stuff I read and the quotes that I read, which was a little bit disappointing,’’ Williams said.
‘‘I have cried in the locker room many times after a loss and that’s what I have seen a lot of people do. ‘‘It’s normal.
‘‘If anything, it shows the passion and the desire and the will that you have to go out there and do the best.
‘‘It’s a Wimbledon final. It would be more shocking if I wasn’t in tears.
‘‘I think what happens there should definitely stay there and not necessarily [be] talked about in a not-so-positive way in a book.’’
In response, Sharapova focused on the match ahead by saying: ‘‘There is a lot of things in her game that she’s done much better than I have. Numbers don’t lie.
‘‘Despite the record that I have against her, I always look forward to coming out on the court and competing against the best player.’’
‘‘I can’t say I have been intimidated by anyone. That’s all. That’s it.’’
Serena Williams