This summer, after falling to Serena Williams in the Western and Southern Open final, Simona Halep said to Williams “I know you can do four,” to show her support as she entered the final leg of her quest for the calendar Slam. Later she elaborated: "If I will not be in the finals, I want her to win," Halep said. "If I will be in the finals with her, I want to win."

Read the Full Article in the Straits Times Here

The words of Halep, and of others who also they admitted they were rooting for Serena to accomplish the feat, struck many as a little, well, submissive. Ahead of this week’s WTA Finals in Singapore, Maria Sharapova admitted that they didn't sit right with her, either.

“I was very surprised [to hear of those comments]" said the Russian, in an interview with Rohit Brijnath of the Straits Times. "That a lot of players said, 'I do hope she achieves it.' [It] was surprising because I knew these players were going to be in the draw, so it was as if, I felt like, why are they even playing? Maybe that's just the competitor in me."

That said, Sharapova herself admitted in the interview that she finds Serena’s success motivational. "For me, the level that [Serena] is at, I would hope that not only from my end but everyone else's end that it raises their level, that it raises their ability to know that they have to work more and harder in order to get to that level."

Hat Tip to Matt Cronin of Tennis.com for pointing us to Sharapova's interview with Brijnath.