Simmering feuds: From Steve Jobs to Serena Williams, here are tales of other arch rivals

Accusations fly thick when rivals stand opposite each other, just like the recent face-off between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, who accused each other of lying. Here are instances when rivals took a public swing at each other.

Serena Williams v/s Maria Sharapova

Sporting rivalries are common on field but off it, as an ode to the grand concept of sportsman spirit, things are mostly kept civil. Not so in the case of Williams and Sharapova. During the recent French Open, a volley of comments was made in the context of some bits in Sharapova’s memoir.

Here's what Sharapova had to say:

“When you’re writing an autobiography, I don’t think there is any reason to write anything that’s not true...I think it would be strange for me not to include someone that I have competed against for so many years.”

Here's what Williams had to say:
“I don’t have any negative feelings towards her, which again, was a little disappointing to see in that hearsay book… as a fan, I wanted to read the book and I was really excited for it to come out… I was really happy for her... but I didn’t expect to be reading a book about me, that wasn’t true.

Marine Le Pen v/s Emmanuel Macron

This one isn’t surprising, since politicians hardly hold back punches. A presidential debate can be no different. In the run up to France’s presidential elections, the two candidates at the time, Le Pen and Macron participated in a television debate, during which Macron screamed liar, a blanket word to sum up all actions of his opponent.

Here's what Le Pen had to say:
“You shouldn’t pretend to be something new when you are speaking like old fossils that are at least 50 years old.”

Here's what Macron had to say:
“Sorry to tell you this, Madame Le Pen, but you are peddling the same lies that we’ve heard from your father for 40 years.”

Steve Jobs v/s Bill Gates

Theirs will go down as one of the staunchest rivalries in the history of business. Geniuses, who were once allies, in time turned into the bitter rivals. At one point, Jobs accused Gates of ripping off the Macintosh, to which he famously responded saying: “Well, Steve, I think there’s more than one way of looking at it. I think it’s more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it.”

Jio v/s Airtel

In the race for dominance of the telecom sector, an intense rivalry is playing out between Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. While the top bosses, Sunil Mittal and Mukesh Ambani maintain cordial relations, the companies continue to battle it out. Recently, the two engaged over some “fastest network claims."

Here's what Airtel had to say:
“Airtel has been rated as India’s fastest mobile network by Ookla — the global leader in broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications. This is clearly mentioned in the ad.”

Here's what Jio had to say:
“The claim of Airtel that it is India’s fastest network is false, misleading and incorrect. The claims are being made by Airtel acting in a malafide manner in collusion with Ookla, which professes to be expert in the domain space of testing mobile internet speed.”