Two weeks after becoming a first-time mother, tennis legend Serena Williams revealed her baby daughter to the world on Wednesday in an online montage.
The Russian-born Sharapova was 17 when she defeated Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final. Rather than proving the start of a long, close-run rivalry, it was one of just two victories Sharapova can claim against the US great, who has beaten her 19 times.
Former world number 1 and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams made her first public comments since giving birth to a daughter one week ago
Serena Williams has vowed to return to competitive tennis in January to defend her Australian Open title, which she won while newly pregnant.
Serena Williams was in labor at a Florida clinic on Friday, US media reported, prompting an outpouring of goodwill messages for the charismatic former world number one.
Williams said during her pregnancy layoff she had kept a close eye on the tennis world, including her sister Venus's run to the Wimbledon final.
World No. 1 Andy Murray has a history of standing up for equality in professional tennis.
Karolina Pliskova became the firm Wimbledon favourite on Wednesday when compatriot and two-time champion Petra Kvitova was knocked out.
With the 23-time Major winner preparing for the birth of her first child and the Russian out with an injury, the race to the Venus Rosewater Dish is wide open.
Serena Williams, whose 23 Grand Slam singles title are the most in the Open era (since 1968), didn't take kindly to the comments made by John McEnroe in an interview National Public Radio's Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
John McEnroe, 58, told Jimmy Kimmel two years ago that he believed he could still beat Serena Williams.
Serena Williams returned to the No 1 spot in the WTA ranking charts on Monday without having played a single tournament since her Australian Open win in January.
Maria Sharapova will know on May 15 if she will be awarded a wildcard for the clay court Grand Slam.
Serena Williams, the world's highest paid female athlete, announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian last December.
If Serena Williams is pregnant, the timing would be a bit of a surprise. Just days ago, she implied on Instagram that she was not pregnant while promoting her friend and former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland's new book for expecting mothers.
World No 2 Serena Williams had posted on Snapchat a picture of herself in front of a mirror with the caption 20 weeks, but later deleted it.
Serena Williams won her seventh Australian Open and 23rd Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Serena Williams rewrote history to surpass Steffi Graf and capture a record 23rd Grand Slam title as well as the World No.1 by beating sister Venus in the Australian Open final
