After a summer of sniping through soundbites, has the icy relationship between Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams thawed?

Not so much.

Christopher Clarey of The New York Times spent time with Sharapova earlier this month for an excellent, must-read article that appeared in Monday editions. Sharapova, who is rehabilitating from a shoulder injury that limited her to three matches after the French Open, opens up about her boyfriend, the 22-year-old Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, why she still plays under a Russian flag even though she lives in the United States and her ill-fated coaching experiment with Jimmy Connors.

But it’s the conversation about Serena that is getting most of the attention. In June, Serena took a veiled jab about a top-five player and her “black-heart” boyfriend (assumed to be Sharapova and Dimitrov) in a Rolling Stone article. Sharapova fired back by implying Serena was a home wrecker because of her rumored relationship with her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who had yet to get a divorce.

When told by Clarey that people were surprised by the comment, Sharapova laughed, then turned serious.

“‘On the court, I have the utmost respect for her; I really do,’ she said of Williams. And off the court? ‘It’s different,’ she said.’I don’t know what it is, but it’s different, and to me, even though that tennis is such a huge part of our lives, at the end it’s such a small part of our lives, and I value so many other more important things in life than just the sport.'”

Clarey writes that Sharapova concedes that her comment about Serena’s relationship “had perhaps not been her classiest decision.” But Sharapova also notes that she didn’t say anything but the truth.

She plays more coy with her criticism this time around, but I appreciate the honesty. Everyone isn’t going to get along, particularly in a high-stakes, competitive arena like professional tennis. Far better for both parties to admit it rather than acting like they’re a part of a fictional mutual admiration society. But, soundbites aside, Serena will always have the leg up. It’s been almost 10 years since Sharapova won a match against the current world No. 1.