Serena Williams hints when she'll reveal 'reason' behind dominance vs Maria Sharapova

06/16/2024 06:00 PM

Serena Williams cheekily suggested that there was "a reason" behind her dominance versus Maria Sharapova and everything will be revealed when her documentary gets released.

Williams, a former 23-time Grand Slam champion, famously absolutely dominated her head-to-head versus Sharapova, winning 20 of their 22 matches. But Sharapova winning just two matches against Williams wasn't even the worst thing in their head-to-head as the American tennis icon pretty much humiliated the Russian by winning each of their last 19 meetings. 

When Sharapova famously upset Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final to become a Grand Slam champion at the most prestigious tournament as a 17-year-old girl, the tennis community was certain that would be one of the biggest and most entertaining rivalries for many years. But after Sharapova defeated Williams at the 2004 WTA Finals to improve to 2-1 in their head-to-head, it completely became a one-sided rivalry as the American won each of their 19 meetings played between 2005 and 2019. 

Ahead of the release of Williams' documentary - titled In the Arena - Williams was asked about her dominance against Sharapova. 

"Oh, man, you didn’t see [what I said about beating Maria Sharapova]? I think that’s Episode 3. God, I’m so sad. You have to see the rest. You gotta wait for it. There was a reason why I didn’t lose to her, and I explain that," Williams said during an interview with The New York Times.

As mentioned above, Williams absolutely dominated Sharapova for many years. But still, there was always a lot of attention and hype whenever they were about to meet on the court. And of the reasons behind that was rumored beef between the two. 

Because of the rumored beef, many speculated over the years that it was the biggest motivation for Williams to every time go out and crush Sharapova. However, neither Williams nor Sharapova ever publicly confirmed that they disliked each other as a person. 

And Williams, who has been retired for two years, was asked about it last month. 

“Not anymore. I mean, was there ever beef? I guess. It was just competitive. She was winning. I was winning, you know, we both wanted to win, and I don't think it was personal. It was just, 'Do you want to win?'" Williams recently said on The Serena Collection.

Going into the 2004 Wimbledon final, Sharapova was coming off a big semifinal win over former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport but Williams was already a six-time Grand Slam champion and the American was considered the favorite. But a 17-year-old Sharapova delivered a very inspiring performance to oust Williams 6-1 6-4. 

When recalling that win recently, Sharapova pretty much she was able to free herself mentally and get in the zone. 

"There was so much on the line in that match, one of the biggest reasons was because it was Wimbledon. Actually, I played Serena a few months back at a tournament in Miami and she easily won that match in two sets," Sharapova said on  Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast in late 2023.

"It was a moment itself when I really felt the weight. It was the fact that Wimbledon in my eyes growing up was ‘The Event, The Tournament,’ the place where as a professional you want to end up, you want those French doors to open to Centre Court.

"And it did and it just happened to be the final for me. It’s interesting it was one of the first few times in my career as a young girl that I felt what it was like to be in the zone. You know when athletes speak about being in the flow, in the zone, I had that moment in the middle of the tournament, and it was in the fourth round.

"It was not that I had that much experience in the Grand Slam tournaments, just two weeks before it was my first time getting into the quarterfinals at the French Open. Even though I lost, it was a huge victory. I found myself in this flow state in the middle of the event playing someone who also should’ve beaten me.

"But I won that match so confidently and so routinely. It felt like I was letting go of all the repetitions, I was letting go of any fear that I had. I just allowed the moment and my skill to shine through."

By winning the 2004 Wimbledon title, Sharapova became the youngest female champion at The Championships at 17 years, two months and 14 days. Sharapova is also the youngest Wimbledon champion ever since Boris Becker - the youngest Wimbledon champion in men's tennis - was 17 years, seven months and 15 days old when he won The Championships in 1985.