Rick Macci once described an 11-year-old Maria Sharapova's left-handed groundstrokes as "poetry in motion"
Tennis fans will remember watching former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova instinctively hit a left-handed forehand in several of her matches when pushed wide into the corner.
But if former coach Rick Macci's words are anything to go by, Sharapova's left-handed groundstrokes were much more than just instinctive plays.
Macci, who trained Sharapova during her early years, wrote in his book Macci Magic: Extracting Greatness From Yourself And Others about the time when he and the Russian's father Yuri seriously contemplated having an 11-year-old Sharapova switch to playing left-handed.
Macci revealed that both he and Yuri discussed, at length, the advantages that would be added to Sharapova's game—which included a slightly more effective serve—if she was to make the switch.
"We discussed in every possible detail the possibility of switching her to play left-handed. Yes, left-handed!" Macci wrote. "Yuri really wanted her to switch and be a lefty player. He thought it wasn’t too late because she was 11."
"We came to the conclusion that she was going to play left-handed," he continued. "I said, 'Yuri, this is a big jump. I know it could be unique, I know her serve might be a little more of an advantage,' so on and so forth."
Further elaborating on the proposed move, Macci went on to describe 11-year-old Sharapova's left-handed groundstrokes as "poetry in motion."
Macci added that Sharapova hit the ball better left-handed as her contact point was in front and there were no hitches.
"And the reason why he wanted her to play left-handed and switch was because when she swung the racquet with her left hand it was once again poetry in motion," Macci wrote. "She hit the ball better, obviously not as hard. Her contact point always was in front and there were no hitches."
IMG Academy convinced Maria Sharapova's father to let her continue playing right-handed
In a separate 2019 interview, Rick Macci revealed that it was officials at Maria Sharapova's Florida-based IMG Academy who convinced the Russian's father to let her continue playing right-handed.
"The IMG (Bollettieri) boys caught wind of this and they came down and didn’t want her to change," Macci said. "They kinda convinced the dad."
Sharapova, however, continued to play the occasional left-handed forehand throughout her career.
In a 2018 press conference following her match against Donna Vekic—where she won a rally in which she hit a left-handed shot—the Russian revealed that she grew up naturally left-handed, joking that it allowed her to hit left-handed shots, even if it was out of 'desperation'.
"I grew up naturally left-handed, so I do a lot of things with my left hand," Sharapova said at a 2018 post-match press conference. "And I played tennis with my left hand for some time, so I sometimes do it on the run. It’s called the desperate shot."
Ambidextrous #tennis hotshot -> "Maria Sharapova hits two 2 shots with left hand to win point" https://t.co/VkbJW2IzuJ #USOpen @WeAreTennis