Maria Sharapova met both Venus and Serena Williams at the Met Gala, but failed in her quest to see both of them at the same time.
The legendary tennis trio, who boast 35 Grand Slam singles titles between them, attended the latest edition of world’s most prestigious fashion event in New York on Monday night.
As the celebrities mingled with one another after posing for the plethora of cameras on the red carpet, Sharapova took to Instagram to let fans know she had bumped into Venus.
What did Maria Sharapova say to Venus and Serena Williams?
Sharapova, 37, who wore an off-the-shoulder neon dress resembling the colour of a tennis ball, posted a clip alongside Venus, but they could not find the seven-time Wimbledon winner, who retired from tennis after the 2022 US Open.
“We are back at the Met, and where is Serena”, the Russian said while looking at the elder Williams’ sister. “Where is Serena? Where are you? We’ll find you, we always do.”
Later on, Sharapova did find her former tennis nemesis, but this time it was Venus who could not be found.
“Hey Venus, I found her there she is,” the Russian said in a video alongside Serena, who said: “I was looking for her.”
Sharapova added: “Where are you? Where are you, Venus? We’re having fun without you.”
Her caption read: “I can’t get the Williams sisters together this year,” which is in reference to their iconic photo taken at the 2021 Met Gala (seen below).
How Sharapova, Venus and Serena’s 2021 Met Gala photo came about
In her 2017 autobiography titled “Unstoppable: My Life So Far”, Sharapova wrote that she was not friends with the Williams sisters.
But after the trio met up at the glamorous fashion event three years ago, both Venus and Serena spoke about their relationship with the two-time French Open winner.
“We were so happy to see each other again, we hugged, laughed, remembered anecdotes and told her we missed her on the court,” Venus said in a previous Instagram Q&A.
“Then we took the photo. The moral of this story is that even though we fought furiously on the court, years later we still respect each other.”
Serena added separately: “I got a chance to hang out with her at the Met Gala. She’s fun, we talked, we clicked, we laughed. We talked about Tennis, it was really really fun and I loved it.”
What is Sharapova’s head-to-head tennis record vs the Williams sisters?
Sharapova had contrasting fortunes in her head-to-head rivalries against the Williams sisters. She played Serena 22 times over the course of a 15-year period between 2004 and 2019.
The Russian claimed two of their first three encounters, one of which came in the 2004 Wimbledon final, which she won aged just 17.
From 2005, Serena dominated their matchups and did not suffer another defeat to her fellow former World number One for the rest of her career.
Sharapova fared better against Venus, however. They contested eight matches against one another, with the Olympic silver medalist winning five of those encounters.
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