Maria Sharapova continues to shine well after her successful tennis career ended in 2020. She makes a lot of money from endorsements, has had some lucrative business ventures, and she made enough from her career to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
But how much does she know about the weird slang of tennis? Maybe about the same as most tennis fans.
On a recent episode of the excellent spicy wings talk show Hot Ones, host Sean Evans asked the tennis icon a few questions in search of the meaning of different slang. While Sharapova didn't know the answers, her personality was so bright and shiny that it didn't matter. We saw the real Sharapova, not the tennis player who had to answer questions a certain way.
Maria Sharapova shines in failure on recent episode of Hot Ones
She was funny and charming, and very human. She is more famous than most of the rest of us and always will be, of course, but she didn't act that way on Evans' program. She struggled through trying to eat the ever-increasingly hot wings, just as we all probably would.
The first question Evans asked in his series about slang was, "What's a can opener?" To which Sharapova rightfully deadpanned, "Are you like tricking me?... I thought we were just talking about a beer."
For those who don't know, a "can opener" is a slice serve, normally from a right-handed player, that lands near the intersection of the singles tramline and service line in the deuce court.
The next question was, "In doubles, would you rather be partnered with a 'cherry picker' or a 'poacher'?" Sharapova, clearly confused but maintaining high-level charm, responded by saying, "What the (expletive) is a cherry picker?"
This is a bit of a trick question. A "cherry picker" and a "poacher" are both players who stay around the net. A "poacher" is one who sometimes steals taking a shot from their own partner.
Evans then asked what a "pancake serve" and a "frying pan" were, and Sharapova answered, "I don't know" to each.
Again, these a tricky. A pancake serve is a reverse slice where the person serving holds the racket as they would an actual frying pan. A "frying pan" is actually a mishit serve where the player hits the ball with the racket instead of the strings.
Evans then asked a more streamlined question of which type of serve was more of a nightmare to try to return, a kick serve or a body serve. The tennis legend answered a body serve, especially one with pace.
Tennis fans likely know the meanings of the last two. A kick serve goes high and wide of a player, while a body serve is directly at a player. Based on Maria Sharapova's five Grand Slam titles and reaching WTA No. 1, she clearly did not struggle too much with either at the height of her career.