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Sloane Stephens disses Serena in new ESPN Magazine Article

131K views 1K replies 283 participants last post by  Zamboni 
#1 · (Edited)
(The other thread was about Sloane and her autograph story.)


Here's a link to the article "preview" for those who haven't read it.

She didn't hold back :help:

http://tennis.si.com/2013/05/04/sloane-stephens-serena-williams-2/

In an interview in the May 13 issue of ESPN The Magazine, Sloane Stephens reveals that her relationship with Serena Williams has completely deteriorated since Stephens beat Williams at the Australian Open in January.

Here’s a snippet from Marin Cogan’s story:

“She’s not said one word to me, not spoken to me, not said hi, not looked my way, not been in the same room with me since I played her in Australia,” Stephens says emphatically. “And that should tell everyone something, how she went from saying all these nice things about me to unfollowing me on Twitter.”

Her mom tries to slow her down, but Sloane is insistent. “Like, seriously! People should know. They think she’s so friendly and she’s so this and she’s so that — no, that’s not reality! You don’t unfollow someone on Twitter, delete them off of BlackBerry Messenger. I mean, what for? Why?”

Stephens also responds to this cryptic tweet that Williams sent two days after their quarterfinal match:



“I was like, ‘You really don’t think I know that that’s about me?’”
Stephens tells the magazine.

Needless to say, it seems like Stephens had some things to get off her chest about the media’s portrayal of her relationship with Williams and she didn’t hold back.

In the interview (which was conducted in late March), Stephens debunks the myth that she and Williams have shared a close bond. Though both played a part in allowing that narrative to spin out of control during the Australian Open, Stephens now says that contrary to popular belief, Williams was never her favorite player.

“I’ve always said Kim Clijsters is my favorite player, so it’s kind of weird,” she says.

In fact, Stephens describes an incident when she was 12 and first saw Williams play, in Delray Beach, Fla., at a Fed Cup tie (ironically, the two were Fed Cup teammates two weeks ago in Delray Beach), that left her with a bad impression of Serena and her sister Venus.

“I waited all day [for an autograph],” she explains. “They walked by three times and never signed our posters.”

Stephens adds of the poster: “I hung it up [in my room] for a while. I was, like, devastated because they didn’t sign it, whatever, and then after that I was over it. I found a new player to like because I didn’t like them anymore.

The story is particularly enlightening given how much was made of that Serena poster in the lead-up to their Australian Open match. Asked about the poster during her post-win interview with Rennae Stubbs, Stephens joked, “I think I’ll put a poster up of myself now.”

Stephens also eviscerated any shred of truth behind the overblown mentor-protege angle that many media outlets ran with when the two faced off in January, first in Brisbane and then in Melbourne:

“For the first 16 years of my life, she said one word to me and was never involved in my tennis whatsoever,” says Stephens. “I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal that she’s not involved now. If you mentor someone, that means you speak to them, that means you help them, that means you know about their life, that means you care about them. Are any of those things true at this moment? No, so therefore…”

I offer: “They want the next great American player.”

Stephens says: “They want another Serena.”
 
#149 ·
Re: Sloane disses Serena in new ESPN Magazine Article

Serena can be so immature sometimes, but Sloane does not need to air dirty laundry in public like this - not when she has yet prove herself as a real contender on tour.

I agree. Sloane should have kept this to herself. But then again that magazine is a piece of garbage and its possible that the writer baited her into those comments, taking advantage of the fact that she is only 19 years old. Controversy sells and if she said only the "right" and nice things about everybody, they probably would not have even published an article.
 
#5 ·
Re: Sloane disses Serena in new ESPN Magazine Article

Ha ha, and we all saw Serena talking to her a lot at Fed Cup, so...
Whatever, Sloane moaning like 5 year LOL
 
#6 ·
The more Sloane talks the more I dislike her. I mean she clearly lives and breathes Serena. All she's doing is trying to use Serena's name to milk her 15 minutes of fame longer. Because her results are not even remotely worth talking about. All of this petty mess coming from Sloane all because Serena didn't embrace her as her BFF. I swear Sloane is turning into a Serena stalker. The girl is showing the entire world that she has mental issues.

What other players on tour care about someone not talking to them, looking at them or not seeing them? Sloane is beyond childish. Not to mention the fact that Serena was talking to her during the Fed cup. So not only is she a spoiled brat, she's a liar too.
 
#25 ·
I thought Serena was brought up right? She sounds like a privileged a-hole from everything I hear.
 
#34 ·
And what were those things? That Serena don't sign autographs and unfollow people on twitter?
 
#44 ·
It's obvious that Sloane has decided she can have it her own way. Just because most people wanted Sloane to sort of circle around Serena's guidance en route becoming the next American #1 it shapes up to be a rocky relationship at best :lol:
 
#47 ·
You make it sound like their relationship was enforced by type of rigid protocols, where Sloane was forced against her will be mentored by Serena.

This was a voluntary arrangement. The same one that Venus had at one point with Pam Shiver or Chris Evert. Totally left to the 2 parties, can be amicably terminated at any time if either party come to the conclusion it is not the best interest of the person who is supposed to benefit.

Apparently, Sloane has reached that conclusion, and it is not surprising given what has unfolded

Not one was forcing anybody to have the arrangement continue.
 
#45 ·
Hmm yeah Serena was immature with the whole 'I made you' comment and in general is a lil immature probably why I like her lol. Though i admit she needs to grow up a lil. However, Sloane clearly has entitlement issues and i wouldn't mind it so much, if she didn't have a boring game and if she had backed up her big mouth! Bet she didn't address her shit results.
 
#46 · (Edited)
Big mistake from Sloane. She needs to show more respect. Guess she will be joining Masha's ranks in terms of Serena playing in GOAT 'I want to kill You' mode every time they play from now on.

All that being said...once again Serena, really???

This post (like many others) make her look like a teeanager. She so often comes across as immature, egotistic and childish. she is 31 for Gods sake. She should be above all of this. I know this wont go down well but you would never see Venus tweet something like that. Its time to grow up a little Serena and leave this petty crap to the kids.
 
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#48 ·
Well, in various disciplines younger players have this sort of relationships with older ones whether it's happenning because of their own decisions or their entourages. Bit like David Robinson and Tim Dunacan before.

But if this wasn't forced upon Sloane why so much backlash on her now? I think most of WS fans would like to see a new American powerhouse coming through and Sloane is one of the best picks available. Surely the hype around her can actually cash in unlike Oudin and Stevenson.
 
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