Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova both retired from professional tennis but their rivalry is still talked about despite their one-sided head-to-head record. The duo locked horns on 22 occasions with the American leading it 20-2.
In an interview, former coach Rick Macci, who both coached Serena and Maria, opened up about their rivalry, but he thinks this one-sided rivalry was more like a “catfight”. Macci even wondered if they did not like each other for personal reasons. Also Read: Novak Djokovic Vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry Match Prediction, Head-To-Head, Preview, And Live Stream | Italian Open
“Maria Sharapova, you know, talk about her rivalry with Serena, and yea you’re right. A rivalry should be a back-and-forth thing, and I know it was 20-2 with Serena leading the way,” Rick Macci told Sportskeeda.
“I think Maria when she came to me at 11, she and Yuri, they had their sights on Venus and Serena, and they talked about it a lot, that was always her goal. But listen, at the end of the day it was a rivalry simply because maybe it was more like a catfight. Who knows, maybe they didn’t like each other for other reasons,” he added. Also Read: “It Seems Like A Glamorous Life, But It Isn’t,” Chris Evert Supports Amanda Anisimova In Her Decision To Take A Long Break To Focus On Her Mental Well-Being
Rick Macci feels the clash between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova was a bad matchup
The former coach believes that a clash between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova was a bad matchup because Serena turned aggressive which used to bring defensive game from Sharapova unlike her contests with other players where she controls most of the points.
“Whenever Serena played her, it was a bad matchup for Sharapova because Serena knew she had to be aggressive, she had to bring the confident streetfight. She had to bring the firepower because Maria would control the points against 95% of people on the tour but against Serena, she couldn’t, and then Maria had to play more defense, and that was a bad matchup,” Macci added.
Serena retired from the sports after last year’s US Open, while Sharapova called time on her career after the 2020 Australian Open.
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