"We will be stanning Maria Sharapova from now on" - Tennis fans react to Serena Williams cropping Aryna Sabalenka from Miami picture

Tennis fans were surprised to see Serena Williams crop Aryna Sabalenka out of a picture that was clicked recently during an event in Miami.

Williams and Sabalenka attended the inauguration ceremony of Casadonna, a coastal Italian-inspired waterfront restaurant, in Miami. The duo were accompanied by Caroline Wozniacki, her husband David Lee, Alexis Ohanian, and Victoria Beckham.

Wozniacki shared pictures from the ceremony on social media with all the aforementioned attendees. In one of the photos, she was captured with Williams, Sabalenka, and David Grutman, co-owner of the eatery.

Serena Williams later posted the same picture on social media but cropped Sabalenka out. Tennis fans on the internet were not appreciative of the former World No. 1's action as one of them called her a 40-year-old bully, writing:

"I'm dead this shady lady needs to be stopped #40yearoldbully."

Another fan concluded that Williams made it clear that she prefers Iga Swiatek more than the current top-ranked player on the women's circuit. The fan posted a picture of Swiatek and Williams together and tweeted:

"She’s tryna make clear who her real dawta is."

A user disapproved of the American's behavior, writing:

"Wait this is kinda nasty actually."

A third fan went as far as deciding to replace Serena Williams with her former archrival Maria Sharapova as her favorite tennis player.

"We will be stanning maria sharapova from now on," the fan stated.

The original picture was posted by Caroline Wozniacki on her Instagram.

Here are a few more reactions from X (formerly Twitter):

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"I wish we would dominate like Steff Graf and Serena Williams used to" - Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka at a press conference

While addressing a question about the consistency of highly-ranked players, Aryna Sabalenka commented on the fierce competition among tennis players on the women's circuit.

"Tennis has improved a lot. Everyone has started working with their own fitness coach, trainer, tennis coach, hitting partner. Right now there’s never any easy matches. There's not much of a difference between somewhere far in the hundred or top 20," Sabalenka said at a press conference during the Dubai Tennis Championships in February this year.

The Belarusian continued:

"Everyone can beat everyone. That’s why top players are struggling a lot with that. You have to bring out your best tennis from the beginning of the tournament, so you’re spending a lot of energy before the final. Then at the end, it’s tougher to play. It’s a positive thing. I wish we would dominate like Steff Graf and Serena Williams used to."

Aryna Sabalenka faced defeat at the hands of Serena Williams at the 2021 Australian Open, which so far remains their only encounter.