Serena Williams says that while she holds no animosity towards Maria Sharapova and also respects her, that she will leave those feelings aside when the face off in the quarterfinals of Stanford on Friday night
"She's probably going to look at me as the ultimate enemy out there as I will do the same with her," said Serena, who added that only a victory would satisfy her. "And we're going to go do the best we can each. It's nothing personal, this is a job for me, and I'm trying to get paid. I've been off a year."
Serena owns a 6-2 edge over the Russian. falling to her in the 2004 Wimbledon final, but beating her twice at the Australian Open and 2010 Wimbledon. Sharapova says they have both grown up and paid homage to her rival.
"You both develop as people and players and have been through great moments and tough ones, but at the end of the day, she has 13 Grand Slams and I have three," Sharapova said.
The two were recently seen together at the ESPY awards in Los Angeles. Serena said that she was happy to see another tennis player there and while trying to calm her nerves being around other celebrities, she approached Sharapova
"She's sweet, she's a nice person," said Serena: "She's quiet, but hey, so am I sometimes, especially before a match. I was sitting close to [singer] Justin Beiber, and I wanted to meet him so bad. I was too stupid and nervous to say anything. And I saw Maria, and I was like, yay, somebody. And I was like, gosh, I wish you were sitting next to me, it would have been a lot easier."