The point-scoring starts early! Wimbledon's leading ladies and a rather unsporting spat over their chaps Female tennis aces Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in catfight Allegedly in the middle is Miss Sharapova's boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov Miss Williams is believed to be Bulgarian player Dimitrov's ex Wimbledon is rarely short of on-court drama. This year, however, it seems the real fireworks will be off-court - at least if Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have anything to do with it. The players, two of the best in the world, have become embroiled in an extraordinary cat-fight ahead of this year's tournament, which begins today. New couple: Maria Sharapova out with her boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov, who is believed to be Serena Williams' ex Their fierce professional rivalry has grown increasingly bitter since Russian star Miss Sharapova started going out with Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, 22, whom Miss Williams is believed to have dated. Yesterday defending Wimbledon champion Miss Williams, 31, tried to calm the row at a press conference on the eve of the tournament. It began after she gave an interview to an American magazine in which she called an unnamed player, believed to be Miss Sharapova, "boring." It's so boring," Miss Williams said. Public spat: Serena Williams, pictured at a press conference on Sunday, has said if Miss Sharapova wants a man with a 'black heart' she should 'go for it' At the weekend Miss Sharapova responded by pointing out that Miss Williams is believed to be dating her married tennis coach, Patrick Mouratoglu, 43. The 26-year-old Russian-born star said: "If Serena wants to talk about something personal, she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend who was married, who is getting a divorce and who has kids - and not draw attention to other things." The pair have had a notoriously competitive relationship on the court, fuelled by the fact Miss Sharapova, the world number three, has not beaten her rival in nine years. Yesterday Miss Williams said she had "no comment" on whether she felt disturbed by Miss Sharapova's dig at her personal life. But asked if she felt the player was "trying to attack her mentally because she couldn't touch her on court," Miss Williams seemed to agree. Instagrammed: Miss Williams posted this picture of herself and old flame Grigor Dimitrov last year She also told the press conference that she had apologised to Miss Sharapova over the row on Thursday, when they both attended a glamorous pre-tournament party in Kensington. However, in a thinly veiled challenge, she said she was looking forward to seeing Miss Sharapova on court during the championship. She said: "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 want to take this moment to just pour myself, be open, say I'm very sorry for this whole situation. She added: "I have the most respect for Maria on and off the court. That's another reason why, being a woman, I wanted to reach out to her and say, "Look, this is this, this is this, sorry."" She said she thought Miss Sharapova "definitely did accept" her apology, saying: "we always have great conversations." Miss Williams said that having Mr Mouratoglu as her coach had made her more motivated after she crashed out of the French Open last year.