An impromptu practice session between Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal in Rome got a lot of attention this week, but the Russian revealed she almost didn't make the request.
Sharapova says she had to be talked into asking the all-time great to hit on his favorite surface.
“Well, I saw he was practicing on the court right before me,” Sharapova told press in Rome. “And I said to my team, I was like, wouldn't it be amazing if I just came up to Rafa and said, ‘Would you hit a couple balls with me?’ And they're like, 'Yeah, what's wrong with that?'
"There's a lot of things wrong with just coming up to Rafa. They're like, 'No, you should.' I was like, 'Really? You think I should?' And so I did.
"And he was, like, 'Yeah.' He probably thought I was really weird. I think he still thinks I'm really weird.”
