"It was an obsession" coach Gabe Jaramilo on Sharapova wanting to beat Serena Williams

Tennis coach Gabe Jaramillo revealed a young Maria Sharapova was constantly trying to find ways to beat Serena Williams.

Maria Sharapova became a tennis icon and legend in her own right but for a very long time, the young Russian was obsessed with beating Serena Williams. Sharapova was part of Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Florida with Jaramilo serving a director there. She was 9 years old when she arrived at the academy and Jaramilo remembers her well.

She remembers her desire to beat Serena as well:

"It was almost an obsession. We were at the academy, she hit a ball and I told her: 'Very good!' 'No, well no, with that ball I don't beat Serena' Every move she made, she thought of Serena, so you can see how these players think, with their minds set five years ahead."

It finally came a few years later when a 17-year old Sharapova defeated Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final.

He told another interesting story about Sharapova and Williams:

"I remember when she was 14 years old I saw her lose in the Orange Bowl against Bartoli, who planted the serve on the service line the entire game, without backing down. She lost 6-0 and 6-0, that was in December. When January arrived, we met at the first training session and I told her to practice serving, so that the same thing doesn't happen to us again.

"She remained serious and answered: 'I'm not training to play against Bartoli, that doesn't matter to me. I'm training to play against Serena Williams' At the time Serena was already No. 1. Imagine when she won the Wimbledon final at 17 years old, she had been playing that match in her head for at least five years."