LONDON: Serena Williams launched a charm offensive yesterday as she sought to broker a truce with Maria Sharapova and calm the storm surrounding comments she made about a rape victim.
On the eve of Wimbledon, where she is defending champion, the pre-tournament focus has been on an interview she gave to Rolling Stone magazine that touched on a high-profile teenage rape case in Ohio and brought her into conflict with her Russian rival Sharapova.
The piece included an account of a private conversation between Serena and her sister Venus that the reporter interpreted as an attack on Sharapova’s relationship with Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov.
“I made it a point to reach out to Maria because she was inadvertently brought into the situation by assumptions made by the reporter,” a smiling Williams told reporters.
“I personally talked to Maria at the player party, incidentally. I said, look, I want to personally apologise to you if you are offended by being brought into my situation. I want to take this moment to just pour myself, be open, say I’m very sorry for this whole situation...
“I’m the first person to reach out to individuals and people if I feel that something may have hurt them or something may have been misconstrued.” REUTERS
