Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams have played against each other for years and while Williams has dominated the rivalry, Sharapova has established herself as the second best player on the women's tour and they may end up meeting in the finals at Wimbledon, just like they did at the French Open.

Sharapova has lost 13 times in a row after dropping the final and in her presser before Wimbledon, she was asked about recent comments Williams made about a controversial rape case in America and responded, saying that while she has respect for Serena, it was sad to hear her comments. Williams later apologized for the remarks and now she is focusing on tennis. The comments were first published in Rolling Stone in an interview and now Serena has some controversy on her while starting up the third major of the year.

Sharapova, who lost for the 13th time in a row to Williams when they clashed at Roland Garros a fortnight ago, could not resist when asked her opinion on her rival's controversial comments on a high-profile teenage rape case in Ohio published in Rolling Stone magazine. Williams has since apologized after quotes attributed to her suggested the victim had been drunk. Defending Wimbledon champion Williams is set to hold her pre-Wimbledon press conference on Sunday.

In the same article Williams also apparently referred to Sharapova's relationship with Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov. The dust has barely settled since their French Open final scrap but Maria Sharapova fired the first volley at Wimbledon title rival Serena Williams on Saturday, taking aim at the American's personal life.

"Obviously I have a tremendous amount of respect for Serena and what she's achieved on the court. You can never take anything away from that," 2004 Wimbledon champion Sharapova told reporters.

"I was definitely sad to hear what she had to say about the whole case."

"As for myself, or whether it was about somebody else, nothing personal, you know," Sharapova told reporters.

"At the end of the day, we have a tremendous amount of respect for what we do on the court. I just think she should be talking about her accomplishments, her achievements, rather than everything else that's just getting attention and controversy.

"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.

"Talk about other things, but not draw attention to other things. She has so much in her life, many positives, and I think that's what it should be about."

(Reuters Quotes)