Maria Sharapova Training in Cincinnati [Video]

I just posted a video of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic playing soccer tennis as a form of training. In this video below here’s former No. 1 Maria Sharapova going through some of her interesting workout routines in Cincinnati.

Sharapova kicks around a football, flexes the rubber bands for the upper body and works on footwork and coordination by playing catch with a tennis ball.

What these videos show is that players don’t just hit tennis balls anymore during practice. They and their trainers are constantly looking new ways to improve and get better. Often that means some form of cross training or a tennis hybrid like soccer tennis or hand tennis.

Sharapova will play fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Cincinnati first round on Tuesday. Kuznetsova just won San Diego.