Maria Sharapova Photos - Gallery of Pictures of Maria Sharapova's Strokes

By Jeff Cooper, About.com Guide

In this photo, Maria shows us a classic preparation for a two-handed backhand, looking over her shoulder at the ball, pointing the racquet at the back fence, and bending her knees so that her legs can help drive upward and forward. Unless she's hitting this ball on the rise (in which case she'll meet it higher than it is now), she'll almost certainly drop her racquet below its current height just before she begins her forward swing so that she can brush up the back of the ball to produce topspin.