Now everyone's Russian to see her

When Maria Sharapova won her second-round match at last year's Australian Open, nobody really cared. The teenager's news conference was attended by only a few reporters. Yesterday, the Russian world No.4 was the centre of attention as she took on three separate hitting partners in preparation for her third Australian Open next week.




With 12 more months on the international circuit behind her, not to mention a Wimbledon title and several film premieres, Sharapova sharpened up on the best court of them all, Rod Laver Arena.


The withdrawal of reigning champion and former world No.1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters and doubts surrounding Serena Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and Jennifer Capriati, have created a big opportunity for the 17 year-old.


Russia has seven women in the world's top 15 and 14 in the top 100.

World No.3 Anastasia Myskina won last year's French Open and Svetlana Kuznetsova claimed the US title, while Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva, Nadia Petrova and Elena Bovina are also among the world's top-15 players.

Zvonareva traces Russia's current success back to former world No.1 turned poker-player Yevgeny Kafelnikov and tennis player-model Anna Kournikova.
"I think Kafelnikov and Kournikova did a lot for Russian tennis because they were the first ones who involved lots of different people into tennis," Zvonareva said yesterday. "They started to make more tennis courts, there were more coaches interested in taking players all the way. "We can thank Kafelnikov and Kournikova because lots of kids and parents were watching them and after (that), you got more players."
The Open is the only tournament Sharapova will be seen at during the Australian summer, with WTA age eligibility rules restricting her to 22 events between her 17th and 18th birthdays. Maria, who turns 18 on April 19, already has played 15 of those tournaments. Meanwhile, plenty of tickets remain for most sessions at the two-week tournament, which begins at Melbourne Park on Monday. And the Australian Open has signed a revised, more lucrative deal with American Express. The company has been upgraded from an on-court sponsor to partner-level sponsor.