Don't tell Maria Sharapova that she's accepted the bridesmaid position to Serena Williams.
Reuters reported that Sharapova still believes she has an intense rivalry with Williams despite the drought that is going on 11 years for the Russian and No. 2 ranked player in the world.
Serena Williams has Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep psyched out?
Sharapova last beat Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final to give her a 2-1 series edge at the time. Williams has proceeded to win 16 straight matches, including the 2015 Australian Open final.
Sharapova isn't making any wild statements about her standing against Serena, but she's staying positive about staying in a position to compete against her.
"She's at the peak of her career. I am now number two in the world," she told Reuters. "I feel like we're still driven and hungry to be the best tennis players.
"I don't think anyone in the tennis world believed that, in 10 years' time, we would still be rivals. I think it's an incredible story."
That part is true - the fact that the two are ranking Nos. 1-2 in the world in 2015 speaks to the competitive nature of both athletes.
She said during her post-Australian Open finals news conference that she felt she was getting closer to Serena "as long as keep setting up chances, absolutely," but she didn't expand on any particular facet of the game in which she thinks she's closing the gap.
Recently, world No. 3 player Simona Halep also said she found striving to become No. 1 difficult while Williams is at the top of her game.
"When Serena is number one, it's hard to think of being number one," Halep said earlier this week, according to Yahoo! Sport. "But still I have confidence that I can win more titles and reach a higher ranking."
While Sharapova may exude more confidence than Halep, it is Halep who at least has a recent victory over Williams, a 6-0, 6-2 drubbing in the round-robin portion of the WTA Finals - although Williams returned the favor in the championship match with a 6-3, 6-0 win.
Meanwhile, Sharapova suffered a shocking, secord-round loss to wildcard Daria Gavrilova on Thursday.
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