Nude streaker disrupts Sharapova match

Maria Sharapova kept her eye fixed firmly on the ball when she reached the Wimbledon semi-finals on Tuesday.

The glamorous Russian's 6-1 6-4 victory over compatriot Elena Dementieva was interrupted in the second set when a naked man streaked on to Center Court and performed a cartwheel before being bundled away by security.

Sharapova politely averted her gaze and said afterwards it was the strangest thing that had happened to her on a tennis court. "It was real bizarre. Even more bizarre that it took 10 seconds for security to come," she told her post-match news conference.

"I didn't really look at the guy, thank God. I didn't want to look at all the details."

However, when told that some of the female spectators had been impressed by the streaker's physique, Sharapova added: "He was? Maybe next time I'll take a look."

The 19-year-old said she had not been too perturbed by the incident, although she thought security officials took a little long to deal with the intruder.

"When you look at the security guards and they're laughing, it's hard to be frightened then," Sharapova said.

"I looked at them and they were kind of laughing, then they took out these red blankets. They must have been prepared. But I don't know why they were laughing.