By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
The sport of tennis is a very competitive one, however, many had hoped the women of color who managed to dominate the sport could stay true to some sort of sisterhood. Unfortunately, Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens haven’t been so lucky when it comes to their relationship. Sloane has always considered Serena to be a role model and inspiration to her career, however, she told ESPN The Magazine that the Williams sister turned on her when she beat her on the court:
“She’s not said one word to me, not spoken to me, not said hi, not looked my way, not been in the same room with me since I played her in Australia. And that should tell everyone something, how she went from saying all these nice things about me to unfollowing me on Twitter.
“Like, seriously! People should know. They think she’s so friendly and she’s so this and she’s so that — no, that’s not reality! You don’t unfollow someone on Twitter, delete them off of BlackBerry Messenger. I mean, what for? Why?”
Serena Williams took the high road when she got wind of Stephens’ interview and told reporters when asked what she thought about Sloane’s comments:
“I don’t really know. I don’t have many thoughts. I’m a big Sloane Stephens fan and always have been. I’ve always said that I think she can be the best in the world. I’ll always continue to think that and always be rooting for her. So I really just always wish her — and anyone, really, especially from America — the best. We don’t have that many American players, so it’s always exciting to see so many young players doing so well.”
Sloane Stephens on the other hand decided to take to her Twitter account this time and declared peace with Serena. She also claims she feels she was out of line for making the comments to the magazine. She tweets:
I am so glad they decided to drop the beef. Black women need to learn how to stick together.
I love this!!!
This is what I like to hear. Good for them. Never drag another black woman in public. Especially when you’re in a field where’s there not enough of you on top.
Sloanne should have never said anything in the first place.
I love it. I’m glad they squashed it. It was petty anyway.
Good.
I’m glad because this was the stupidest beef I’ve ever seen.
It was petty. I’m glad they dropped it, at least in the public eye.
Nice!!!! They are both amazing and shouldn’t cut each other for something so silly!
Now we need Ciara and Rihanna needs to squash the beef.
Beautiful!