Serena tries to mend fences

Serena Williams launched a charm offensive yesterday as she sought to broker a truce with Maria Sharapova and calm the storm surrounding comments she made about a rape victim.

On the eve of Wimbledon, where she is defending champion, the pre-tournament focus has been on an interview she gave to Rolling Stone magazine that touched on a high-profile teenage rape case in Ohio and brought her into conflict with her Russian rival Sharapova.

The piece included an account of a private conversation between Serena and her sister Venus that the reporter interpreted as an attack on Sharapova's relationship with Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov.

Sharapova, soundly beaten by Serena in the French Open final earlier this month, hit back on Saturday telling the world number one to keep her nose out of other people's business.

"I made it a point to reach out to Maria because she was inadvertently brought into the situation by assumptions made by the reporter," Williams told reporters.

"I personally talked to Maria at the player party, incidentally. I said: 'Look, I want to personally apologise to you if you are offended by being brought into my situation.'

"I'm the first person to reach out to individuals and people if I feel that something may have hurt them or may have been misconstrued."

The controversial interview quoted Serena as talking about "a top-five player who is now in love".

It added: "She begins every interview with 'I'm so happy. I'm so lucky' - it's so boring. And, hey, if she wants to be with the guy with a black heart, go for it'."

While Serena did not deny making the comments, she was clearly angry that her private words had ended up in print.

"I've been spoiled dealing with professionalism here in the tennis world. I'm used to dealing with professional reporters ... not writing or commenting on a private conversation that I may have, or listening in or eavesdropping and then reporting on it.

"I was involved in a private conversation that he even wrote in the article that he was listening to."

A light-hearted chat to reporters at the party about her prospects of surpassing Venus and winning a sixth Wimbledon title gave way after just five gentle questions.

The subject turned to her comments in the same Rolling Stone interview when she appeared to assign blame to a 16-year-old rape victim for being drunk.

She reiterated her earlier apology and said she had been in close contact with the victim's family.

"I reached out to the family immediately the article came out, and I had a really productive, sincere conversation with the mother and the daughter. "