John McEnroe and Maria Sharapova have warmed up for his or her forthcoming pickleball doubles match by perfecting the American's grunting skill. The retired stars are set to tackle married tennis icons Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff on the fast-growing sport in February of subsequent yr.

But earlier than the intense stuff will get underway, 64-year-old McEnroe and Russian star Sharapova have been working collectively on an commercial for the previous's podcast 'McEnroe's Place'.

The video reveals Sharapova placing McEnroe by way of some on-court drills, however his failure to get the train proper sees his youthful tutor resort to a extra acquainted tactic.

After McEnroe struggles to hit a tough goal on his first six makes an attempt, Sharapova, who was famend for grunting throughout play, asks him to do the identical.

Sharapova stated: “Zero out of four, zero out of five, zero out of six. Can we try something else? Like grunting?”

As issues would prove, the Russian's grunting recommendation appeared to work for McEnroe, who began discovering his goal after adopting a loud strategy. The improved outcomes made Sharapova - who requested him to grunt louder after each shot - dance with pleasure.

The two tennis stars get pleasure from a robust rapport, having performed doubles collectively in each exhibition and promotional occasions. And they'll as soon as once more staff up subsequent yr to tackle a brand new problem on this planet of pickleball.

Pickleball Slam 2 takes place on the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood on February 4, 2024. It is right here that McEnroe and Sharapova will couple as much as tackle Agassi and Graf.

This won't be McEnroe's first run-out within the sport, nonetheless. The American took half within the first Pickleball Slam occasion alongside Michael Chang. On that event, they confronted Agassi and Andy Roddick, with the latter pair proving to be too sturdy for his or her opponents.

Meanwhile, Sharapova has been the topic of some attention-grabbing feedback from her former agent Max Eisenbud.

The Russian received her first WTA singles title on the age of 16 and beat Serena Williams to win Wimbledon when she was simply 17. Sharapova went on to win 5 Grand Slams however Eisenbud has prompt that her achievements have been extra all the way down to dogged dedication than sheer expertise.

Speaking on The Tennis Podcast, he stated: “Besides being an amazing player at age 11 when I first saw her play, I think you all saw she was all business, she knew what she wanted, she’d dedicate her time and energy to becoming the best she could be.

“I mean I tell people all the time she’s probably the worst athlete that, and I’ll tell her if she was here (laughing), the worst athlete to ever win a Grand Slam. She can’t throw, she can’t pass, she has no touch but she willed her way.”