Sharapova defends autobiography: It would be strange not to include Serena

Maria Sharapova defended her decision to include accounts of Serena Williams in her autobiography.

Sharapova’s French Open campaign came to an end on Wednesday as she was thrashed 6-2 6-1 by Garbine Muguruza in the quarter-finals.

The Russian had been scheduled to play 23-time grand slam champion Williams in the previous round, only for the American to withdraw because of injury.

In the build-up to the fourth round Williams said she was disappointed to see “100% hearsay” in Sharapova’s book, which included claims she heard Serena crying after she defeated her in the 2004 Wimbledon final.

Asked about Williams’ comments at her post-match media conference, Sharapova said: “I think it would be strange for me not to include someone that I have competed against for so many years.

“I think there is a lot of autobiographies out in the world, especially in the sporting world, that don’t necessarily speak about whether they were rivals or someone they competed against.

“And I think we played many matches. Some of those matches were very defining for me. It would be very strange, I think, if I didn’t write anything about her. I think everyone would ask me questions, as well.

“So I’m not entirely sure how to go about that answer. When you’re writing an autobiography, I don’t think there is any reason to write anything that’s not true.”

Final four bound.@GarbiMuguruza records her first career win over Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-1.#RG18 pic.twitter.com/HXtJGVWlDa

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2018
On her performance in the tournament, Sharapova added: “I guess, you know, on paper it’s a step in the right direction. It’s tough to just assess a single tournament.

“I think I have to put a lot of things in perspective for the last, what, four, five weeks since the clay season.

“Coming into this part of the year, I was losing a few first-round matches, matches that I wanted to be winning, of course.

“But to have had the victories that I have had, to have the results that I have, obviously moving a step in the right direction. But today was certainly not one of those steps.”

Asked if she is ready for the transition to the grass courts ahead of Wimbledon, she responded: “I think my body will need a little bit of rest, but, yeah, mentally I’m ready to go.

“You can look at today and although I don’t want to erase it completely, there are a lot of things that I need to look at and face and work towards after this match.

“But when I’m talking about progression or looking back at the weeks, I think there are a lot of good things like the way my body has handled the long matches that I have played, the back-to-backs.

“Looking at Madrid, Rome, I think that’s always one of the toughest back-to-backs on the calendar, especially on a surface like clay. So to come out of these weeks and feel fairly healthy is a great thing.”