First, Alla Kudryavtseva muscled the 2004 champion out of Wimbledon in the second round 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday. Then, she took a swipe at the glamorous Russian.
Fashion icon Sharapova's tuxedo-inspired blouse and shorts got exposure all over the world and was the subject of 13 questions at an official news conference after her first-round win.
"It's very pleasant to beat ... Maria," the 20-year-old Kudryavtseva said. "Why? Well, I don't like her outfit. Can I put it this way?"
"It was one of the motivations to beat her," she added.
Kudryavtseva joked that she had no fear of her father, Alexander, a world champion Greco-Roman wrestler in the 1980s, so she had no reason to feel daunted by Sharapova - on or off the court.
"If I'm not afraid to go play her and she's world No. 3, I'm not afraid she's going to catch me in the dressing room and say, 'You know what, you said you don't like my outfit. You were wrong.' I will say, 'Sorry. That's just my opinion.'"
They're both Russians, both living in Florida and they're only a year apart in age. But they're worlds apart in profile. They've both been involved in Russia's Fed Cup team, but barely know each other except for a casual hi.
Kudryavtseva has a No. 154 ranking, has never won a title and had earned US$358,450 in prize money coming into Wimbledon. Sharapova, 21, has 19 titles and more than US$12 million in prize money.
And then there's the millions in endorsements, including the Wimbledon apparel range that irked Kudryavtseva.
Not that she wanted to elaborate.
"Oh, c'mon. Now you're going to take me to the fashion discussion," she said. "I'm not very good in fashion. I don't know the trends."
Sharapova's "brave enough to experiment - I give her credit for that. Sometimes she has good ones, sometimes not. That's my personal opinion, again."
Twelve months after being two points from upsetting eventual champion Venus Williams in the first round at Wimbledon, Kudryavtseva wanted to talk about tennis.
"Maybe it will sound a little too much for me, but I did expect to win. I did think about winning, not just going and playing," she said.
Sharapova beat her in straight sets in the third round at the French Open last year, Kudryavtseva's previous best run at a major.
But Kudryavtseva had a 4-1 lead in the second set of that match and lost it.
"Definitely it helps when you know the player, when you know how she plays, you know what to expect," she said. "Of course I watch Maria a lot on the TV, but it's different when you're on the other side of the court.
"For sure that helped. But I think what helped more is my last year's match with Venus Williams."
Kudryavtseva said she tried to play it safe and just get the ball into play against Williams, and paid the price for that.
"So today I was like, 'There's no way I'm going to do the same mistake again, so I went for my shots," she said. "I still remember it quite good, because before today it was the biggest match of my career."
Kudryavtseva reached a career high 59 last June but said some personal issues and injuries had hampered her progress. Now, she's over those now and working with coach Christian Zahalka in Boca Raton.
Sharapova made a rash of 22 unforced errors, eight double-faults and was completely off her game. Kudryavtseva sensed it early, and pounced.
"I realized Maria is not playing that great when she double-faulted three times," she said. "That was the first time I broke her," she said. "But she picked it up towards the end of the match and she started playing some really good, aggressive tennis, put more balls in the court, not overplay the shots. I think I did a good job dealing with that. "
Sharapova said the upset would likely be the highlight of Kudryavtseva's campaign - so they did find some common ground.
"I would definitely love to win the tournament. But, yeah, well, for sure beating her is a big deal for me," Kudryavtseva said. "It's a big match."
