‘Most Challenging and the Most Consistent’ – Maria Sharapova Says Serena Williams Was Her Most Intimidating Opponent

Former Russian tennis superstar Maria Sharapova had a pretty successful career in terms of winning the Grand Slam titles. At the end of her career, she won five Grand Slams in total, including a career Grand Slam. Her first Grand Slam title win came at Wimbledon in 2004 when she was just 17 years old.

Throughout her illustrious career, Maria faced many tough opponents. In a recent podcast with Dan Schulman, Sharapova revealed the toughest and the most intimidating opponent she faced in her career. 

Maria Sharapova reveals her toughest opponent

In the Never Stand Still podcast, the host Dan Schulman asked Sharapova about her most intimidating opponent. In reply, Sharapova said the name of Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner. 

“Serena, by far. When I was young, I lost to Monica Seles like 6-0,6-1, and I actually thought I had played a really good match and I came off the court, I was just bawling, I don’t know if I was sixteen or maybe I was seventeen and I said to my dad who was my coach at the time ‘I really thought I played well.’ I just got completely torn apart (laughing). But yeah, Serena was definitely the toughest competitor and the most challenging and the most consistent in her level,” Sharapova said when asked about her toughest competitor.  

Serena vs Sharapova, the rivalry

In 2004, Serena first faced Sharapova in Miami, where the American beat the Russian. However, Sharapova took her revenge in the next match at the Wimbledon final in the same year, as the Russian won her first Grand Slam title. Sharapova continued her winning streak against Serena by winning the WTA tour finals title in the same year. 

Watch This Story: Serena Williams vs Maria Sharapova, the salty rivalry at Wimbledon Championships

Unfortunately for Sharapova, she didn’t win a single match after that against the great American. The next 19 meetings between them went all in Serena’s way. Their last meeting came in the US Open 2019, where Serena destroyed Sharapova in straight sets. So far, Serena is completely winning their head-to-head battle by 20-2. 

Despite Serena’s dominance over Sharapova, fans have always enjoyed their match-up. Sadly, we won’t be able to see this match-up ever again, as Sharapova announced her retirement in 2020. 

Did you enjoy the rivalry between Serena and Sharapova? Let us know in the comments.

Read more: ‘We Need to Get Out of Russia’ – Maria Sharapova Says the Advice Given by Martina Navratilova Changed Her Life