Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams reunited at the 2021 Met Gala. The pair seemed to be very jovial with one another which shocked fans. Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova perhaps surprisingly reunited at the Met Gala. The tennis rivals shocked fans as the pair posed for a picture at the annual fundraising event alongside Serena’s sister, Venus.
Serena donned a Gucci star-spangled silver bodysuit and a floor-length pink cape, while Sharapova wore a Gabriela Hearst gold dress and Venus stunned in a red gown with a long train by Prabal Gurung. The 23-time grand slam champion attended the gala with husband Alexis Ohanian, while Sharapova was there alongside her fiance Alexander Gilkes.
The American superstar and the Russian had a frosty rivalry on the tennis court, with Sharapova losing 20 out of the 22 times they faced one another. As a result of the intense and one-sided feud, many did not expect to see the pair enjoying one another’s company at the Met Gala. Stunned fans tweeted: “Is this real life?”, while journalist Max Gao said of the photo: “I feel like I’m hallucinating. What in the world?!”
The interaction was even more surprising given Sharpova’s comments about Serena in her 2017 autobiography ‘Unstoppable: My Life So Far’, emphasising the pair are “not friends.” In an excerpt from the book, the five-time major winner claims Serena “hated” her loss to the then 17-year-old Sharapova in the 2004 Wimbledon final. “What I heard when I came in to the locker room was Serena Williams bawling,” she wrote about the aftermath of her victory.
“Guttural sobs. I got out as quickly as I could, but she knew I was there.” “I think Serena hated me for being the skinny kid who beat her, against all odds … I think she hated me for seeing her at her lowest moment. “But mostly I think she hated me for hearing her cry. She’s never forgiven me for it.” Serena was perplexed that she had such a prominent role in her tennis rival’s life story, as her name is mentioned more than 100 times.
However, based on their jolly interactions at the Met Gala, the tennis greats seem to have buried the hatchet. There was a significant tennis presence at the Met Gala this year, as co-chair Naomi Osaka was in attendance, as was 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
The teenage sensations who stunned at this year’s US Open, champion Emma Raducanu and runner-up Leylah Fernandez, also graced the red carpet after their heroics this past fortnight. Raducanu arrived wearing a Chanel handkerchief skirt along with a cropped camisole and floral print shirt.
Fernandez wore a black and white cocktail dress by Carolina Herrera, who recreated one of her older pieces worn by Serena and Venus inside the pages of Vogue in 1998.
