Verbal volleys before Wimbledon starts: Serena Williams says she apologized to Maria Sharapova

LONDON – Serena Williams says she offered an apology to Maria Sharapova two days before Sharapova took a verbal swipe at Williams over comments in a magazine article.

Speaking Sunday at Wimbledon, where she’s the defending champion, Williams declined to directly respond to Sharapova’s broadside from 24 hours earlier. The back-and-forth began with a recent Rolling Stone story, in which the author surmised that something critical Williams said about an unnamed top-five player referred to Sharapova.

The No. 1-ranked Williams says she approached No. 3 Sharapova to smooth things over Thursday at a pre-tournament players’ party.

At a news conference Saturday, Sharapova said: “If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and is getting a divorce and has kids.”