Though Maria Sharapova didn't face Serena Williams in Paris, the former French Open champions traded shots anyway.
Following her straight-sets loss to Garbiñe Muguruza in today's Roland Garros quarterfinals, Sharapova was asked her response to Williams ripping her memoir Unstoppable: My Life So Far as "100 percent hearsay."
Watch: Muguruza Stomps Sharapova
"I think the book was 100 percent hearsay," Williams told the media in Paris. "At least all the stuff I read and the quotes that I read, which was a little disappointing."
The 23-time Grand Slam champion disputed how Sharapova recounted their relationship calling passages of the book "not necessarily true" and saying she was disppointed by how much of Sharapova's book was about Williams herself.
Today, Sharapova shot back it would be strange if she hadn't written about Williams given her matches with Serena are a big part of her career story.
"Well, I think it would be strange for me not to include someone that I have competed against for so many years", Sharapova told the media at Roland Garros.“I think there is a lot of autobiographies out in the world, especially in the sporting world, that don't necessarily speak about whether they were rivals or someone they competed against.
“And I think we played many matches. Some of those matches were very defining for me. “It would be very, strange, I think, if I didn't write anything about her. I think everyone would ask."
The five-time Grand Slam champion shot down Williams' assertion the book was "100 percent hearsay."
“When you're writing an autobiography, I don't think there is any reason to write anything that's not true,” Sharapova said.
The Grand Slam champions were scheduled to square off in the French Open fourth round, but Williams withdrew from the tournament with a pectoral injury sending Sharapova into the quarterfinals.
Williams said she was surprised Sharapova wrote so much about her in her memoir.
"The book was a lot about me," Williams told the media in Paris. "I was surprised about that, to be honest. You know, I was like, 'Oh, okay. I didn't expect to be reading a book about me, that wasn't necessarily true.' So I was like, 'This is really interesting, but... I don't know.' I didn't know how she looked up to me that much or was so involved in my career."
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