Ugh I can't stand Maria Sharapova. I'm not crazy about Serena and her antics, but at least she's not malicious. Who writes about their competitors this way and your father had you hide in a shed to watch them, instead of coming out and saying hello and watch them like all the other normal kids did? What kind of freak is Yuri and this is why I believe he is the reason she is messed up in the head for life. She didn't want to worship them but her game was patterned after Venus', which she admitted to in an early Wimbledon interview and she posted this on Facebook after beating injured Serena in a 2004 World Tour Final match:
Here's the great dinner I had at Spago to celebrate beating Serena Williams for the second time in a row (remember Wimbledon last summer?).
She got your memo and she didn't like the way you conducted yourself, and how you seemed to make it personal. You like to boast but you're not her rival and you're not as talented as her, so get that through your thick skull. After writing this book, you will never beat her again.