Happy New Year!

The Maria Sharapova Phone

Maria Sharapova poses for photographers holding Motorola's Pink M1000, which was made specifically for her, at a media conference on in Tokyo.

The conference was held to announce Maria Sharapova's and Lindsay Davenport's participation at the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament taking place early next year in Tokyo. The Maria Sharapova Japan Tour 2005 is the first leg of a planned world tour scheduled to stop in Russia, Hong Kong and Singapore in the following months. The 18-year-old Russian will be showcasing her own brand of perfume and her own line of watches in addition to taking part in fashion shows, tennis clinics for children. An event organised for Japanese fans on Wednesday, attracted an audience of about 7,200.

In a fashion show held at Osaka-jo Hall as part of her Japan Tour, Maria demonstrated her costumes and a bag she designed. She also showed a powerful serve in an exhibition "match" against Hanshin Tigers catcher Akihiro Yano.

Maria pulls out of Season Opener

Maria Sharapova has been forced to withdraw from the Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts tournament with a strained right shoulder on Friday.

"I am very disappointed to have to withdraw from the Mondial Women's Hardcourts in Gold Coast because my right shoulder is not yet ready to allow me to compete at the tour level. Tournament director Liz Smylie has put together a fantastic event that I hope to be able to play in 2007, and I am sure it will again be a great success this year. I will be doing everything possible in consultation with my doctors to be healthy enough to play the Australian Open," Maria said. "I have spent the offseason training and preparing both on and off the court for the 2006 season."

Maria arrives in Japan

The darling of the tennis world, Maria Sharapova, will grace Japan from Dec. 20-24 for a three-city promotional blitz that will include singles matches against Japan"s top-ranked player, Ai Sugiyama.

The Maria Sharapova Japan Tour 2005 is the first leg of a planned world tour tentatively scheduled to stop in Russia, Hong Kong and Singapore in the following months.

The 18-year-old Russian will be showcasing her own brand of perfume and her own line of watches in addition to taking part in fashion shows, tennis clinics for children and doubles matches in Osaka on Wednesday, Nagoya on Thursday and Tokyo on Friday.