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Williams Apologizes for Comments in Article Serena Williams Responds to Sharapova’s Comments
(35 minutes later)
WIMBLEDON, England — Defending Wimbledon champion Serena Williams entered her pre-tournament news conference Sunday afternoon with a game face that she normally reserves for the late stages of the event. WIMBLEDON, England — The defending Wimbledon champion Serena Williams entered her pretournament news conference Sunday afternoon with a game face that she normally reserves for the late stages of the event.
With a combination of poise, preparation and alertness not often seen in her interactions with the media, Williams carefully fielded more than a dozen questions stemming from a recent profile in Rolling Stone, which created controversy for several of her quotes, most notably her musings on the Steubenville rape case that seemed to show some sympathy to the accused and place some blame on the victim. Williams carefully addressed comments made Saturday by Maria Sharapova in response to a recent profile in Rolling Stone, in which Williams, during a phone call with her sister Venus, appears to criticize Sharapova for dating “the guy with a black heart.” Sharapova is dating the Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov, who had been previously romantically linked to Williams.
“I apologize for everything that was said in that article,” said Williams, who had also issued an apology about her Steubenville remarks on her Web site shortly after the article was released. "I feel like, you know, you say things without having all the information. It's really important before you make certain comments to have a full list, have all the information, all the facts," she said at the news conference. "I reached out to the family immediately once the article came out, and I had a really productive, sincere conversation with the mother and the daughter. We came to a wonderful understanding, and we’re constantly in contact.” “If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship, and her boyfriend that was married, and is getting a divorce and has kids,” Sharapova had said in her news conference Saturday of Williams’s relationship with her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who had previously been the coach of Dimitrov.
In the Steubenville case, two high school football stars were convicted in March of raping a 16-year-old girl during a night of drinking in a case that drew national attention for the way social media spurred the initial prosecution and later helped galvanize national outrage. “I definitely was told of the comments,” Williams said of Sharapova’s remarks. “I definitely like to keep my personal life personal. I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment on it. But, yeah, I’ve always, in the past — you guys have known — I’ve kept my personal and professional life very private. I’m going to continue to do that.”
Williams also addressed comments made Saturday by Maria Sharapova ( in response to another part of the article, in which Williams, during a phone call with her sister Venus, appears to criticize Sharapova for dating “the guy with a black heart.” Sharapova is dating the Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov, who had been previously romantically linked to Williams. Williams also cautiously fielded questions about her musings on the Steubenville rape case in the article that seemed to show some sympathy to the accused and place some blame on the victim.
“If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship, and her boyfriend that was married, and is getting a divorce and has kids,” Sharapova had said in her news conference Saturday of Williams’ relationship with her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who had previously been the coach of Dimitrov. “I apologize for everything that was said in that article,” said Williams, who had also issued an apology about her Steubenville remarks on her Web site shortly after the article was released. “I feel like, you know, you say things without having all the information. It’s really important before you make certain comments to have a full list, have all the information, all the facts,” she said at the news conference.
“I definitely was told of the comments,” Williams said of Sharapova’s remarks. "I definitely like to keep my personal life personal. I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment on it. But, yeah, I've always, in the past — you guys have known — I've kept my personal and professional life very private. I’m going to continue to do that.” “I reached out to the family immediately once the article came out, and I had a really productive, sincere conversation with the mother and the daughter. We came to a wonderful understanding, and we’re constantly in contact.”
Williams added that in addition to reaching out to the family of the Steubenville victim, she had reached out to Sharapova, and had also tried to apologize to Sharapova at the W.T.A. pre-Wimbledon Thursday evening in Kensington. Two Steubenville High School football players were convicted in March of raping a 16-year-old girl during a night of drinking in a case that drew national attention for the way social media spurred the initial prosecution and later helped galvanize national outrage.
“I made it a point to reach out to Maria, as well, because she was inadvertently brought into the situation by assumptions made by the reporter. I personally talked to Maria at the player party, incidentally. I said, 'Look, I want to personally apologize to you if you are offended by being brought into my situation. I want to take this moment to just pour myself, be open, say I’m very sorry for this whole situation.'” Williams added that in addition to reaching out to the family of the Steubenville victim, she had reached out to Sharapova and had also tried to apologize to Sharapova at the W.T.A. pre-Wimbledon party Thursday night in Kensington.
Though she criticized the author of the Rolling Stone article, Stephen Rodrick, for "eavesdropping" on her phone conversation, Williams chided herself for not showing the media savvy to keep herself out this imbroglio. “I made it a point to reach out to Maria, as well, because she was inadvertently brought into the situation by assumptions made by the reporter. I personally talked to Maria at the player party, incidentally. I said, ‘Look, I want to personally apologize to you if you are offended by being brought into my situation. I want to take this moment to just pour myself, be open, say I’m very sorry for this whole situation.’ ”
Though she criticized the author of the Rolling Stone article, Stephen Rodrick, for “eavesdropping” on her phone conversation, Williams chided herself for not showing the news media savvy to keep herself out this imbroglio.
“I’ve been in the business for a little over 200 years, so I should definitely, definitely know better,” she said with a loud laugh. “I should know better to always have my guard up.”“I’ve been in the business for a little over 200 years, so I should definitely, definitely know better,” she said with a loud laugh. “I should know better to always have my guard up.”
Williams did say, however, that there was one comment of Sharapova’s she would take to heart.Williams did say, however, that there was one comment of Sharapova’s she would take to heart.
“I know she also said that I should definitely focus on the tennis here, and I feel like that is another thing I can definitely take her advice on,” Williams said. "Maybe I wasn't focused enough in the past on tennis. I’m definitely going to try to focus on that for the next two weeks.” “I know she also said that I should definitely focus on the tennis here, and I feel like that is another thing I can definitely take her advice on,” Williams said. “Maybe I wasn’t focused enough in the past on tennis. I’m definitely going to try to focus on that for the next two weeks.”
Williams’ title defense will begin Tuesday against Mandy Minella of Luxembourg. Williams and Sharapova are on opposite sides of the draw, meaning they will not play unless both win the six matches necessary to reach the final. Williams has dominated Sharapova for nearly a decade, winning their last 13 meetings and holding an overall record against her of 14-2. Williams’s title defense will begin Tuesday against Mandy Minella of Luxembourg. Williams and Sharapova are on opposite sides of the draw, meaning they will not play unless both reach the final. Williams has dominated Sharapova for nearly a decade, winning their last 13 meetings and holding a 14-2 overall record against her.
While Williams has been joined by an abnormal amount of scrutiny early on at the tournament, she is without a more familiar companion at the tournament — her sister, Venus, who is absent from the tournament for the first time since 1996 with back problems. Serena and Venus have won the women’s doubles title together five times at Wimbledon, and are also currently tied at five Wimbledon singles titles apiece. While Williams has experienced an abnormal amount of scrutiny early on at the tournament, she is without a more familiar companion at the tournament — her sister, Venus, who is absent from the tournament for the first time since 1996 with back problems. Serena and Venus have won the women’s doubles title together five times at Wimbledon and are also tied at five Wimbledon singles titles apiece.
“She told me before I left, she said, ‘snap out of it, it’s time for you to pass me,'” Serena recalled Venus saying. "So that was really encouraging. So hopefully I’ll be able to do it.” “She told me before I left, she said, ‘Snap out of it, it’s time for you to pass me,’ ” Serena recalled Venus saying. “So that was really encouraging. So hopefully I’ll be able to do it.”