Sharapova–S. Williams rivalry

Maria Sharapova (left) and Serena Williams (right) won 28 Grand Slam singles titles togheter. They held the number one position on the WTA Rankings for 340 weeks.

The Sharapova–S. Williams rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, who met 22 times between 2004 and 2019. Their overall head-to-head was 20–2 favoring Williams, Williams leading 8–1 in Grand Slam meetings, and 3–1 in Grand Slam finals.^[1] Their last meeting in a Grand Slam final was at the 2015 Australian Open.^[2]

Williams and Sharapova played a total of 48 sets. Of these, 41 were won by Williams and 7 by Sharapova. Five of the sets won by Sharapova were during the 2004–2005 period, at the beginning of the rivalry, when Sharapova managed to secure her only two wins. After 2005, Sharapova only won 2 more sets, in 2008 and 2013.

The most lopsided match between these two players was in the women's singles final at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. There, Williams beat Sharapova (6–0, 6–1), in a match that lasted for 62 minutes.^[3]

In a 2014 interview, Sharapova said her toughest opponent was Monica Seles.^[4] Williams held the number one position on the WTA Singles Rankings for 319 weeks, Sharapova for 21 weeks.^[5]

Head-to-head[]

Legend	Maria Sharapova	Serena Williams
Grand Slam	1	8
WTA Tour Championships	1	1
WTA Tier I / Premier Mandatory / Premier 5	0	8
WTA Tier II / Premier	0	2
Olympics	0	1
Total	2	20

Maria Sharapova–Serena Williams (2–20)

No.	Year	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Round	Winner	Score	Sharapova	S. Williams
1.	2004	Miami Masters	Tier I	Hard	Round of 16	Serena Williams	6–4, 6–3	0	1
2.	2004	Wimbledon	Major	Grass	Final	Maria Sharapova	6–1, 6–4	1	1
3.	2004	WTA Championships	Tour Finals	Hard	Final	Maria Sharapova	4–6, 6–2, 6–4	2	1
4.	2005	Australian Open	Major	Hard	Semifinals	Serena Williams	2–6, 7–5, 8–6	2	2
5.	2007	Australian Open	Major	Hard	Final	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–2	2	3
6.	2007	Miami Masters	Tier I	Hard	Round of 16	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–1	2	4
7.	2008	Charleston Open	Tier I	Clay	Quarterfinals	Serena Williams	7–5, 4–6, 6–1	2	5
8.	2010	Wimbledon	Major	Grass	Round of 16	Serena Williams	7–6^(11–9), 6–4	2	6
9.	2011	Stanford	Premier	Hard	Quarterfinals	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–3	2	7
10.	2012	Madrid Masters	Premier Mandatory	Clay	Quarterfinals	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–3	2	8
11.	2012	Olympics Tennis	Olympics	Grass	Final	Serena Williams	6–0, 6–1	2	9
12.	2012	WTA Championships	Tour Finals	Hard	Final	Serena Williams	6–4, 6–3	2	10
13.	2013	Doha	Premier 5	Hard	Semifinals	Serena Williams	6–3, 6–2	2	11
14.	2013	Miami Masters	Premier Mandatory	Hard	Final	Serena Williams	4–6, 6–3, 6–0	2	12
15.	2013	Madrid Masters	Premier Mandatory	Clay	Final	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–4	2	13
16.	2013	Roland Garros	Major	Clay	Final	Serena Williams	6–4, 6–4	2	14
17.	2014	Brisbane	Premier	Hard	Semifinals	Serena Williams	6–2, 7–6^(9–7)	2	15
18.	2014	Miami Masters	Premier Mandatory	Hard	Semifinals	Serena Williams	6–4, 6–3	2	16
19.	2015	Australian Open	Major	Hard	Final	Serena Williams	6–3, 7–6^(7–5)	2	17
20.	2015	Wimbledon	Major	Grass	Semifinals	Serena Williams	6–2, 6–4	2	18
21.	2016	Australian Open	Major	Hard	Quarterfinals	Serena Williams	6–4, 6–1	2	19
22.	2019	US Open	Major	Hard	Round of 128	Serena Williams	6–1, 6–1	2	20