FIVE days ago Maria Sharapova described herself as “a work in progress”. Yesterday she proved herself more accurate than she would have liked in the final of the Swisscom Challenge. The 17-year-old Russian, still coming to terms with winning Wimbledon three months ago, seemed to have the final in the bag. But she let Alicia Molik back into the match and, at the conclusion of the Australian’s 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory, Sharapova did not cut an altogether pleasant figure.

Frustration played a part, a strained pectoral muscle stopped her from serving at full pace, and her training at the Bollettieri academy in Florida has taught her a self-centred approach to matches that does not seem to acknowledge an opponent playing better. But she was fortunate that one of many impetuous swipes at the ball after lost points did not result in her being defaulted.

Like Boris Becker, Michael Chang, Arantxa SánchezVicario, Martina Hingis and Monica Seles before her, all of whom won a grand-slam title before being old enough to vote, Sharapova is discovering that early achievement has to be handled with caution. After her Wimbledon triumph IMG, her management company, asked her whether she was happy being in the top ten or whether she wanted to go further. “I want to be No 1 ,” was Sharapova’s reply, one which she has repeated many times in public.

The upshot is a public- relations strategy that can most positively be described as “protective”. Almost every request for a one-on-one interview — many from British media — has been rejected, more than 300 requests for photoshoots have been denied, and BBC Television had to pull out all the stops to gain only 12 minutes with Sharapova last week for December’s Sports Personality of the Year show.

The benevolent will see it as legitimate sheltering, along the lines that being 17 can be hard enough without a Wimbledon title. The cynical will see it as enhancing the market value of the sport’s (and IMG’s) newest big asset. Sharapova has just signed a massive contract with a mobile phone company, she continues her modelling work, and Max Eisenbud, her manager, said: “Within a few years the name ‘Maria Sharapova’ will be a brand as universally recognised as Calvin Klein, BMW and Rolex.”

Against this background, the intelligent Sharapova must continue to become a better player. After a mediocre period post-Wimbledon, she played two lower-tier tournaments in Asia, ostensibly to honour her commitments, but also to get her confidence back and enhance her status in the Asian markets. She is already famous enough to have warranted round-the-clock bodyguards when winning the titles in Tokyo and Seoul.

Such a strategy is clearly good for Maria Sharapova Inc, but whether limiting media access to the sport’s big new name is good for tennis is open to debate. Then again, on yesterday’s evidence, one could argue that Molik is as good for the game as Sharapova. Her all-court game built around a big serve and judicious use of the slice offered a variety that the WTA Tour desperately needs and made the final, of a tournament ranked a level lower than the four grand-slam events, much more watchable than Sharapova’s high-profile matches against Daniela Hantuchova, Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva, which were largely one-dimensional baseline battles.

Though an attacking player, the key to Molik’s victory was her defence. After a first set of chasing shadows, she began to read Sharapova’s groundstrokes much better and used her slice to great effect. Her second break of the second set involved Sharapova receiving an official warning for being coached — Yuri, her coach and father, was sitting at the opposite end of the court at the time.

With Sharapova receiving treatment for her muscle strain, the momentum showed no sign of switching back, indeed Molik broke for 2-0 in the third set. Sharapova came straight back as her grunting reached new volumes but every point that she lost was greeted with petulant gestures and one angry swipe at a loose ball narrowly missed a spectator in a wheelchair.

It was not pleasant to watch and when Molik broke for 5-3 and then served out for victory, it was greeted as a highly popular win.

“I hope I’ve shown people why I won Wimbledon,” Sharapova said. That after telling the media all week that she wants to forget about the past and “move on”. At 17 she’s still learning.