SLOANE STEPHENS AND SERENA BURY THE HATCHET

                         

Earlier in the week a story came out in ESPN The Magazine in which Stephens ripped Williams.

In Stephens words:

“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. And that should tell everyone something, how she went from saying all these nice things about me to unfollowing me on Twitter.”

There were many reports when Stephens first came on the scene that she and Williams had a close bond and the the elder tennis star was Stephens mentor. But in the magazine, Stephens explains that's not true and that ever since the Williams sisters didn't sign a poster for her when she was a young tennis fan that Kim Clijsters has been her favorite player, not Serena.

               

Basically, Stephens said Williams has had absolutely zero influence on her life as a tennis player:

“For the first 16 years of my life, she said one word to me and was never involved in my tennis whatsoever.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…”

                        

Yesterday at the Madrid open, Williams responded to the comments. Williams told reporters (via Sports Illustrated):

“I’m a big Sloane Stephens fan and always have been. I’ve always said that I think she can be the best in the world. I’ll always continue to think that and always be rooting for her.

“So I really just always wish her — and anyone, really, especially from America — the best. We don’t have that many American players, so it’s always exciting to see so many young players doing so well.”

Williams beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the second round of the Madrid Open today while Stephens fell to Daniela Hantuchova in the first round.

It seems all is now well with the two as Sloane tweeted: