Maria Sharapova appears on Ellen, admits she's unsure if grunting helps

Maria Sharapova just recently returned to the court, playing in an exhibition against Ana Ivanovic. (Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images) Maria Sharapova stops
Maria Sharapova appears on Ellen, admits she's unsure if grunting helps
Maria Sharapova appears on Ellen, admits she's unsure if grunting helps /

Maria Sharapova just recently returned to the court, playing in an exhibition against Ana Ivanovic. (Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images)

Maria-Sharapova-2

Maria Sharapova stops by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk tennis and Sugarpova. She revealed that she has no idea whether her trademark grunting helps her tennis, but she's never actually tried to stop it.

"I'm not sure what it does," Sharapova said when DeGeneres asked her whether the grunting helps her breathing and exertion. "I still to this day don't really know."

Sharapova, who along with Victoria Azarenka are the lightning rods for the grunting in the women's game, says she's never tried to play without grunting so she doesn't know if it helps or hurts her game.

"I've never actually tried [to stop]," she said. "Because once you start playing, you just start going into this automatic rhythm."

Also, Ellen helps Sharapova get into the holiday spirit by gifting her an incredible Christmas-themed tennis dress. Let's wait and see if she wears it in any upcoming matches.

Watch a clip of the interview here:

[hulu id=v_kunikkpx95otqrwtoikq width=512]


Published
Courtney Nguyen
COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.