Tennis: Struggling Sharapova Still Gets a Kick Out of Her Game

Maria Sharapova, the world No2, prepared for her opening match of the Italian Open with a little gentle tennis football on the centre court of the Foro Italico yesterday morning. Chelsea need not bother to send scouts should she repeat this build up later in the week. "I'm really bad at it," she laughed.

Her tennis was not too brilliant either, although good enough to down Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 6-2. Clay is by no means Sharapova's best surface, although she took a week out before Berlin last week to train at Juan Carlos Ferrero's camp in Spain.

In Germany she was defeated in the quarter-finals by Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne, thereby losing an opportunity to become No1 in the world, although she could claim that spot from Lindsay Davenport of the US at the weekend if she wins the tournament here.

"First matches are never easy, and I was making too many errors," said the 18-year-old Russian, although she denied feeling any particular pressure. "The clay here is a lot faster than Berlin and the bounce is different. It's a question of trying to find your timing."

There were breaks of service galore, 11 in 18 games, although when Sharapova did find her range, notably on the forehand, she had too much power for Medina Garrigues. "As the match went along I was feeling much better," said the reigning Wimbledon champion.

Her fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, last year's surprise US Open champion, was due to meet Sharapova in the quarter-finals but lost her opening match 6-2, 6-4 against Argentina's Paola Suárez who had previously won only one of her five singles matches this year.

Another Russian, the 11th seed Elena Likhovtseva, was also beaten, 6-1, 6-3, by Israel's Anna Smashnova and the French 12th seed Tatiana Golovin also fell at the first hurdle, beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Montenegro.