Maria Sharapova has traced her famously bitter rivalry with Serena Williams back to the 2004 Wimbledon final, and claims the American superstar referred to her as a "little b****".
Sharapova's autobiography Unstoppable: My life So Far, due for release, claims things went pear-shaped between the two after 17-year-old Sharapova had beaten Williams 6 - 1, 6 - 4 in that final.
"When the match was over, Serena hugged me," Sharapova writes, according to the Herald Sun.
"She said something like 'good job' and smiled. But she could not have been smiling on the inside.
"What I heard when I came in to the locker room was Serena Williams bawling. Guttural sobs. I got out as quickly as I could, but she knew I was there.