Intro:

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova hit back at Russian tennis chief Shamil Tarpischev on Sunday (19th October), after his comments referring to her and older sister Venus as 'brothers' and 'scary' were bullying, sexist and racist, and that she supported the one-year suspension imposed by the WTA against the official.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Serena Williams, WTA World Number One (responding to the fine and ban to Russia's Shamil Tarpischev for disparaging comments he made about her and sister Venus)

"I think the WTA did a great job of taking initiative and taking immediate action to his comments. I thought they were very insensitive and extremely sexist as well as racist at the same time. I thought they were in a way bullying."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Maria Sharapova, 2014 French Open Champion (reacting to Shamil Tarpischev's comments):

"I think they were very disrespectful and uncalled for, and I'm glad that many people have stood up, including the WTA. It was very inappropriate, especially in his position and all the responsibilities that he has not just in sport, but being part of the Olympic committee. It was just really irresponsible on his side."