"The client thought I was a genius because I made her smile" - Joe Pytka recalls Maria Sharapova's hilarious commercial for Canon with her dog Dolce

Joe Pytka, widely recognized as one of the greatest American commercial video directors of all-time, recalled the ad he shot for Canon with tennis icon Maria Sharapova -- one that made his clients extremely happy.

The 30-second commercial features Sharapova and her Pomeranian Dolce, showcasing a day in the life of the dog living with the Russian. As the five-time Grand Slam champion constantly tries to get good clicks of him, Dolce grows increasingly frustrated with the demands, at one point even refusing to pose the way the former World No. 1 wants him to.

At the end of the ad, however, the Pomeranian is pleased by a large wall in Sharapova's house that is dedicated entirely to pictures of him, showcasing the functionality of the Japanese company's 'Powershot' line of cameras.

Recalling the commercial, Pytka revealed that he had found it hard to connect with Maria Sharapova personally during the shoot. However, he was happy that it did not reflect in the final cut, which his clients found very amusing.

“It was impossible to connect on any personal level, not that I tried. The Japanese client thought I was a genius, though, because I made her smile,” Pytka said in a recent interview with Tennis.com.

Maria Sharapova adopted Dolce, meaning "sweet" in Italian, in 2006. The Russian has often spoken about her pet as her "stress-reliever," even having him accompany her to photoshoots so that she can have some fun in the middle of otherwise stressful days.

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Iga Swiatek was recently compared to Maria Sharapova by the Russian's former agent Max Eisenbud

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Speaking in a recent interview, Maria Sharapova's former agent Max Eisenbud likened current World No. 1 Iga Swiatek to the five-time Grand Slam champion, commenting that they both had the same attitude towards winning that made them appealing to brands.

Stating that brands are usually impressed when agents tell them that they might not have a lot of time to speak with their prospective clients because they are too focussed on training, Eisenbud remarked that it was a stand-out trait in both Sharapova and Swiatek.

"There are a lot of similarities to Sharapova: Maria wanted to win first, second, third, and fourth. Iga wants to win the same," Eisenbud said. "And I think when you’re talking to brands, and you tell them ‘listen, you might not have as much time with her as maybe others because she’s so focused and wants to win’, usually the brands are excited about that."