She says they help her stay “hydrated”, although some have alleged that she uses bananas for secret coaching hand movements.

Maria Sharapova won the US Open in straight sets yesterday but she had to deflect reporters asking her about possible cheating/coaching from her dad and hitting partner instead. Coaching is not allowed in tennis (which makes no sense at all) so there’s an uproar over apparent hand signals and a banana signal. Sharapova claims that the hand signals are just a reminder for her to hydrate and the banana… means grunt like a gorilla.

I believe, at the end of the day, personally, my life is not about a banana. It’s not about what I wear. It’s not about the friends that I have. My career right now is about winning a tennis match. And right now, I’m sitting here as a U.S. Open champion, and the last thing I think people need to worry about is a banana.

Sharapova even got testy with a reporter who kept pressuring her about the banana signal.

I’m sure most of her… uh… fans just want her to keep on eating those bananas.