Serena Williams takes a dig at Maria Sharapova for comments in new book

09/20/2017

In a letter to her mother, Serena Williams has subtly taken a dig at Maria Sharapova, who made some comments on the American in her memoir Unstoppable: My Life So Far, which came out on September 12. In Sharapova's book, she has mentioned Williams over 100 times and talks about her losses to her.

The letter, written by Williams addressed to her mom, was published to Reddit on Tuesday where Williams, not mentioning Sharapova by name, has taken a potshot at the Russian for her ban for doping. While Williams expresses her gratitude to her mother in the letter, it is hard to miss an underlying theme in the writing.

In her book, Sharapova describes Williams as a colossal figure but in reality, Sharapova is 5 inches taller than Williams. But the Russian went on to talk about Williams' "thick arms" and "thick legs" in the book.

"First of all, her physical presence is much stronger and bigger than you realize watching TV. … She has thick arms and thick legs and is so intimidating and strong. And tall, really tall," Sharapova's book reads.

Williams hasn’t officially spoken to the press about her mention in Sharapova's memoir, but her letter to her mother speaks a lot about her feelings on the topic, without explicitly mentioning Sharapova's name.

"You are one of the strongest women I know. I was looking at my daughter (OMG, yes, I have a daughter) and she has my arms and legs! My exact same strong, muscular, powerful, sensational arms and body. I don’t know how I would react if she has to go through what I’ve gone through since I was a 15 year old and even to this day," Williams wrote in the letter.

"I've been called man because I appeared outwardly strong. It has been said that that I use drugs (No, I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage). It has been said I don’t belong in Women’s sports — that I belong in Men’s — because I look stronger than many other women do. (No, I just work hard and I was born with this badass body and proud of it)."

Williams addressed the letter to her mother after welcoming her new daughter into the world.