Serena Williams slams 'beef' rumors with Maria Sharapova

Legendary tennis player Serena Williams has rejected claims of having a ‘beef’ with former world number one Maria Sharapova. In her autobiography Unstoppable, the Russian tennis star stated that America’s legendary star hated her after losing in the final at Wimbledon in 2004 against all odds with a score of 6-1, 6-4. "I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her, against all odds, at Wimbledon," she wrote.

Serena, who is often regarded as the greatest player in the history of women’s singles tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 23 Grand Slam titles in her illustrious career, was recently quoted in a report where she rejected the notion of having a ‘beef’ with Sharapova as they both wanted to win.

"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?'" she said. Interestingly, both players competed 22 times in professional tennis where Serena has a far better record as she registered 20 wins compared to just two wins by Sharapova.