Carlos Alcaraz meets Maria Sharapova during Russian's visit to Canada

Carlos Alcaraz and Maria Sharapova were pictured together in Toronto during the 2023 Canadian Open.

Maria Sharapova is currently in Canada to attend the Unmatched Gender Equity in Sports Conference at Paramount EventSpace in Woodbridge, Ontario, on August 9. During her time in Canada, the Russian tennis star met men's World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

The picture of the two was shared on Instagram by JC Ferrero-Equelite Tennis Academy, owned and run by Carlos Alcaraz's coach and former ATP player Juan Carlos Ferrero.

"Maria & Carlitos. Two former number 1 who practice at the Academy united in Canada," the picture was captioned.

Carlos Alcaraz and Maria Sharapova in Toronto

The Spaniard is competing at the Canadian Open, currently taking place in Toronto, as the No. 1 seed. He received a bye in the first round and will face Ben Shelton of the USA in the second round on August 9.

While Alcaraz will play the Canadian Open in Toronto for the first time in his young career, he did compete in the tournament last year when it was played in Montreal. The 20-year-old was seeded No. 2 and lost in the second round to American Tommy Paul.

Maria Sharapova, a former World No. 1, competed at the Canadian Open a number of times in her career. Her best performance at the WTA 1000-level tournament came in 2009 when she reached the final as an unseeded player. Fellow Russian star Elena Dementieva defeated Sharapova in the title bout 6-4, 6-3.

"Carlos Alcaraz is incredible, I can't wait to see him grow" - Maria Sharapova

Carlos Alcaraz pictured at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships

Sharapova recently lavished praise on Carlos Alcaraz. She expressed admiration for his fighting spirit as well as his ability to bring the crowd to their feet with his incredible stroke-making and court coverage.

The 36-year-old added that she can't wait to see what the future holds for the young Spaniard.

“Carlos [Alcaraz] it's incredible. What fascinates me most about him is his fighting spirit on every point. He manages to put on a show and ignite the crowd every time he sets foot on the field. I can't wait to see him grow, I'm really curious to see where he can go and what he can do," Sharapova told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Sharapova also gave her thoughts on the comparison between Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. She said that while she understands the tennis world is going to compare both the players, Alcaraz has his own style and personality that will set him apart from Nadal and the rest of the players in the future.

“I think in the beginning, the comparisons to Rafa [Nadal] were inevitable but he's developing a style and a personality of his own that will make him a one-of-a-kind player,” she said.