ON A day that was short on either upsets or any truly outstanding matches, it was left to Maria Sharapova to provide some sparkle on and off court. The world No 4 won “the battle of the glamorous blondes”, as one Australian tabloid dubbed her match against Ashley Harkleroad, from the United States, 6-1, 7-5, and then gave an endearing insight into her state of mind and aspirations.
Sharapova’s undisputed position, since Anna Kournikova retired, as the world’s most desirable female tennis player will shortly be challenged by Nicole Vaidisova, the 16-year-old Czech who is another 6ft blonde of Amazonian proportions. The Russian is still well ahead of the field when it comes to on-court dresswear, however, and little was left to the imagination when she appeared in the shortest and flimsiest light-blue dress that looked a cross between a nightie and a negligée.
Few players could have carried off such fetching attire, but Sharapova, all 6ft 2in of feline grace, managed to do so nonchalantly. She raced through the first set in 25 minutes before her 20-year old opponent fought back hard in the second, when Sharapova required treatment for blisters.
For all her worldliness, the Russian still sounded like a gawky teenager when she gushed: “It’s really weird — I’ve never gotten blisters before on my feet, so I was kind of a little shocked and forgot what I was doing out there. But I should be OK — I sound like a wimp saying this to you guys.”
The value of Sharapova’s presence is inestimable for a tournament lacking three big male names in Marat Safin, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal. “I’m really happy to be here because I didn’t think I would be,” Sharapova said.
“After having a tough last six months with my shoulder injury, I’m not expecting a lot from myself.”
Although she has not reached a grand-slam final since winning Wimbledon in 2004, Sharapova has been remarkably consistent. She progressed to the quarter-finals or better of all 15 tour events she competed in last year, becoming the first Russian to attain world No 1 status. “I have never, ever in my career felt like I had anything to prove to anyone,” she said. “I still don’t — I was No 1 last year and won a grand-slam at 17.”
Her refreshing candour is matched by a determination to make the most of what life offers her. “I love everything I do off court — I’m not one- dimensional,” she said. “I always love to keep myself busy. I love fashion very much — I get involved with that very often. There’s a lot of interesting things I want to do after my career. I don’t want to finish it and sit there and be empty-handed. I want to have a lot of opportunities.”
Other straight-sets winners in Sharapova’s side of the draw included Serena Williams, the defending champion, Justine Henin-Hardenne, the winner here in 2004, and Lindsay Davenport, the world No 1. Tszvetana Pironkova, who knocked out Venus Williams in the first round, lost to Laura Granville.
In the men’s event, Andy Roddick eased past Wesley Moodie, but Robby Ginepri, his fellow American and the No 13 seed, was beaten in five sets by Denis Gremelmayr, the German who is No 177 in the world rankings.
Radek Stepanek, the No 17 seed, was also surprised in five sets by Marcos Baghdatis, the world No 54 from Cyprus. This prompted wild celebrations by dozens of his countrymen wearing Cyprus football shirts, the player himself being engulfed as if he had scored the winning goal in a cup final.
RESULTS FROM MELBOURNE PARK
MEN: Singles: Second round: G Gaudio (Arg) bt L Burgsmüller (Ger) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; F Santoro (Fr) bt A Pavel (Rom) 6-4, 6-1, 6-4; M Ancic (Cro) bt J Hernych (Cz) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4; D Ferrer (Sp) bt D Bracciali (It) 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2; T Robredo (Sp) bt D Tursunov (Russ) 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3; J Blake (US) bt J-C Faurel (Fr) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3; J Nieminen (Fin) bt Wang Yeu-tzuoo (Taiwan) 6-2, 7-6, 6-2; D Nalbandian (Arg) bt S Wawrinka (Switz) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; I Ljubicic (Cro) bt P Kohlschreiber (Ger) 7-5, 6-2, 6-1; F López (Sp) bt G Muller (Lux) 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4; G Simon (Fr) bt T Berdych (Cz) 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2; T Johansson (Swe) bt X Malisse (Bel) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; D Gremelmayr (Ger) bt R Ginepri (US) 2-6, 5-7, 6-4 , 6-3, 6-3; M Baghdatis (Cyprus) bt R Stepanek (Cz) 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 0-6, 7-5; J Benneteau (Fr) bt G García-López (Sp) 6-4, 7-6, 6-1; A Roddick (US) bt W Moodie (SA) 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. Doubles: First round: J I Chela (Arg) and G Gaudio (Arg) bt M Baghdatis (Cyprus) and D Skoch (Cz) 6-1, 6-2; C Ball (Aus) and A Coelho (Aus) bt P Goldstein (US) and J Thomas (US) 7-5, 2-6, 7-6; J Erlich (Isr) and A Ram (Isr) bt J Monaco (Arg) and A Montanes (Sp) 6-3, 6-2; J Coetzee (SA) and R Wassen (Neth) bt C Guccione (Aus) and N Healey (Aus) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; J Knowle (Austria) and J Melzer (Austria) bt R Gasquet (Fr) and S Grosjean (Fr) 6-4, 6-4; S Aspelin (Swe) and T Perry (Aus) bt M García (Arg) and L Horna (Peru) 6-3, 6-4; M Fyrstenberg (Pol) and M Matkowski (Pol) bt D Sanguinetti (It) and P Starace (It) 6-3, 6-7, 6-1; D Hrbaty (Slovakia) and M Mertinak (Slovakia) bt G Galimberti (It) and J Levinsky (Cz) 6-4, 6-1; A Fisher (Aus) and J Gimelstob (US) bt C Moyà (Sp) and M Zabaleta (Arg) 6-2, 7-6; D Norman (Bel) and V Spadea (US) bt M Knowles (Bah) and D Nestor (Can) 6-4, 7-6; M Damm (Cz) and L Paes (India) bt P Luczak (Aus) and S Nettle (Aus) 6-3, 6-2; A Clément (Fr) and M Llodra (Fr) bt P Kohlschreiber (Ger) and F Mayer (Ger) 6-4, 6-3; J Acasuso (Arg) and S Prieto (Arg) bt I Andreev (Russ) and N Davydenko (Russ) 6-7, 6-4, 7-6; C Haggard (SA) and H Levy (Isr) bt M Gicquel (Fr) and G Monfils (Fr) 6-3, 6-2; Y Allegro (Switz) and K Vliegen (Bel) bt L Burgsmüller (Ger) and B Phau (Ger) 6-3, 6-2.
WOMEN: Singles: Second round: L Davenport (US) bt K Sprem (Cro) 7-6, 6-3; M Kirilenko (Russ) bt G Voskoboeva (Russ) 7-6, 6-4; M Santangelo (It) bt K Srebotnik (Slovenia) 7-6, 5-7, 6-3; S Kuznetsova (Russ) bt A Parra Santonja (Sp) 6-2, 6-7, 6-2; L Granville (US) bt T Pironkova (Bul) 7-5, 6-2; V Ruano Pascual (Sp) bt E Likhovtseva (Russ) 6-4, 6-4; V Razzano (Fr) bt C Martínez Granados (Sp) 7-6, 6-3; J Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt H Sromova (Cz) 7-6, 6-1; M Sharapova (Russ) bt A Harkleroad (US) 6-1, 7-5; J Kostanic (Cro) bt Z Ondraskova (Cz) 6-2, 6-1; D Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt A Amanmuradov (Uzb) 6-4, 6-1; S Williams (US) bt C Pin (Fr) 6-3, 6-1; E Vesnina (Russ) bt J Schruff (Ger) 6-0, 7-5; O Savchuk (Ukr) bt J Jankovic (Serbia and M) 6-3, 6-4; M E Camerin (It) bt E Bychkova (Russ) 4-6, 7-6, 6-2; N Petrova (Russ) bt M Muller (Ger) 6-4, 6-1. Doubles: First round: L Raymond (US) and S Stosur (Aus) bt N Llagostera Vives (Sp) and M Vento-Kabchi (Ven) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; M Ani (Est) and A Vanc (Rom) bt Chuang Chia-jung (Taiwan
) and R Fujiwara (Japan) 6-2, 7-5; C Dellacqua (Aus) and T Musgrave (Aus) bt G Navratilova (Cz) and M Pastikova (Cz) 7-6, 2-6, 6-1; Li Ting (China) and Sun Tiantian (China) bt Y Beygelzimer (Ukr) and M Jugic-Salkic (Bahamas) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; M Adamczak (Aus) and C Horiatopolous (Aus) bt L McShea (Aus) and B Stewart (Aus) 7-6, 3-6, 6-4; Li Na (China) and Peng Shuai (China) bt M E Salerni (Arg) and M Sequera (Ven) 6-2, 6-3; S Foretz (Fr) and Antonella Serra-Zanetti (It) bt S Kloesol (Ger) and M Koryttseva (Ukr) 6-1, 6-0; K Brandi (P Rico) and C Castano (Col) bt L Breadmore (Aus) and D Dominikovic (Aus) 6-1, 6-3; A-L Grönefeld (Ger) and M Shaughnessy (US) bt E Birnerova (Cz) and M Santangelo (It) 6-4, 6-1; L Dominguez Lino (Sp) and M A Sánchez-Lorenzo (Sp) bt S Arvidsson (Swe) and S Bammer (Austria) 6-3, 6-4; S Bremond (Fr) and S Sfar (Tun) bt Cho Yoon Jeong (S Kor) and A Nakamura (Japan) 6-4, 6-2; J Craybas (US) and M Tu (US) bt S McDowell (Aus) and J Moore (Aus) 6-3, 6-0; L Huber (SA) and F Schiavone (It) bt I Benesova (Cz) and J Kostanic (Cro) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Hsieh Su-wei (Taiwan) and T Tanasugarn (Thai) bt M Domachowska (Pol) and R Vinci (It) 7-5, 6-0; M Krajicek (Neth) and A Szavay (Hun) bt E Daniilidou (Gr) and A Medina Garrigues (Sp) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4; A Frazier (US) and J Lee (Taiwan) bt L Dekmeijere (Latvia) and M Diaz-Oliva (Arg) 6-2, 6-0; C Black (Zim) and R Stubbs (Aus) bt L Pous Tio (Sp) and M Washington (US) 6-2, 6-1.
