--- title: Serena Williams Defeats Question About Trump and Sharapova description: Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will go head to head across the net again on Monday, renewing their longtime association as opponents. And during her... canonical: https://time.com/5300031/serena-williams-maria-sharapova-trump/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-04T13:19:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:12.638Z og:title: Serena Williams Shuts Down Reporter Who Asked About Trump og:description: She was asked about when Trump said Maria Sharapova's looks intimidated her og:url: https://time.com/5300031/serena-williams-maria-sharapova-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f535f6ed1a52c9b/69893204fb4eac75a8896c44/serena-williams-french-open.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4710 og:image:height: 2649 og:image:alt: French Open Tennis Championships, Day Five, Roland Garros, Paris, France - 31 May 2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Serena Williams Shuts Down Reporter Who Asked About Trump twitter:description: She was asked about when Trump said Maria Sharapova's looks intimidated her twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f535f6ed1a52c9b/69893204fb4eac75a8896c44/serena-williams-french-open.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Serena Williams Shut Down a Reporter Who Asked About the Time Trump Said Maria Sharapova's Looks Intimidated Her > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=874fffa3-b3f9-40d4-8ecc-d4b87f6a7c20&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 4, 2018 1:19 PM UTC  Serena Williams (USA) in action French Open Tennis Championships, Day Five, Roland Garros, Paris, France - 31 May 2018 Serena Williams (USA) in action French Open Tennis Championships, Day Five, Roland Garros, Paris, France - 31 May 2018 Juergen Hasenkopf—BPI/REX/Shutterstock by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jun 4, 2018 1:19 PM UTC [Serena Williams](http://time.com/5297854/serena-williams-french-open/) and Maria Sharapova will go head to head across the net again on Monday, renewing their longtime association as opponents. And during her post-match press conference following [Williams’](http://time.com/5283492/serena-williams-royal-wedding/) defeat of Julia Görges on Saturday, the 23-time [Grand Slam champion](http://time.com/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/) fielded a question about Donald Trump’s analysis of a 2004 match against Sharapova. _Inside Tennis’_ Bill Simons asked Williams about Trump’s [alleged comments from 2004](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/06/03/serena-williams-asked-about-trump-once-suggesting-shes-intimidated-by-maria-sharapovas-supermodel-looks/?utm%5Fterm=.07eaba70a674) that Sharapova’s “shoulders were incredibly alluring” and that Williams was “intimidated by her supermodel good looks.” That was 2004 and this is now, when Trump is President, but Williams wasted no time exercising control over the question like she had just done on the court. “I honestly don’t have any thoughts about that. I can’t say I have been intimidated by anyone. That’s all. That’s it,” she reportedly said in response. For Simons’ part, he wrote “Serena understandably didn’t want to comment on that.” Here’s a transcript of a part of the exchange. > [](https://twitter.com/jddtennis/status/1003000141341749248) Simons took to Twitter to apologize for the question on Sunday. > [](https://twitter.com/BillSimons1/status/1003469357085753344) Williams has consistently vanquished Sharapova, and the two will play against each other in the highly anticipated Round of 16 at the French Open. This isn’t the first time that Williams has made her feelings known with sports reporters. At the [2017 Australian Open](http://time.com/4639659/serena-williams-makes-reporter-apologize/), she demanded an apology form a reporter who called her performance “scrappy,” and shut down another reporter who asked why she wasn’t smiling when she defeated her sister, Venus Williams, in 2015. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5300031/serena-williams-maria-sharapova-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5300031/serena-williams-maria-sharapova-trump/"},"headline":"Serena Williams Shut Down a Reporter Who Asked About the Time Trump Said Maria Sharapova's Looks Intimidated Her","datePublished":"2018-06-04T13:19:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:12.638Z","description":"Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will go head to head across the net again on Monday, renewing their longtime association as opponents. 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