03 June,2014 08:35 AM IST | | Agencies
Russian reckons Latvian Gulbis wasn't serious when he said recently that he didn't want his younger sisters to become professional tennis players and that female players must think about kids
Maria Sharapova and Ernests Gulbis
Paris: Maria Sharapova indicated that men's tennis player Ernests Gulbis may have been joking when he said recently that female players must think about kids while telling reporters last week that that he didn't want his younger sisters to become professional tennis players.
Maria Sharapova and Ernests Gulbis
"I don't think we can take everything serious when he speaks," Sharapova said with a laugh, according to si.com. "I mean, let's be honest with that. I think he's great entertainment and we love to listen to what he has to say.
In a way, I think he was joking, but he's playing the sport, so how bad can it be? If he felt so bad about it, and even if he's a male, I don't think he'd be playing it."
After his third round win over Radek Stepanek, Gulbis, who went on to beat Roger Federer, said: "It's a tough choice of life.
A woman needs to enjoy life a little bit more. Needs to think about family, needs to think about kids. What kids you can think about until age of 27 if you're playing professional tennis. That's tough for a woman, I think."