Sitting on a sofa in the bar of the Priory tennis club in Birmingham, Maria Sharapova is listening to Alicia Keyes on a mini iPod. Around her, members order tall drinks and swap gossip. Most are unaware that the Wimbledon champion is among them. Those that do recognise the blonde, long-legged teenager keep reverential distance.

Sharapova is waiting to go on court at the DFS Classic. It is just over a week before Wimbledon and she has chosen to play in a tournament populated with B-list players, just as she did last year. Sharapova, of course, is A-list, having followed her Wimbledon triumph with victory over Serena Williams to claim the WTA Championship last year. She is ranked second in the world, behind Lindsay Davenport. She steps on to Centre Court on Tuesday as favourite to retain her title.

She has chosen Edgbaston precisely because it is low-key. But during the week, at the end of which Sharapova retained her title, there is evident tension during matches and signs of strain off the court. At a planned autograph session with children she fails to make eye contact with her young fans. In post-match press sessions, she seems irritable. And, having been granted just 0 minutes with her for a Wimbledon preview, the BBC's Sue Barker finishes the interview three minutes early because Sharapova is so unresponsive.

Her rather weary attitude is hardly surprising, though, because the young woman from Siberia is relentlessly in demand. And not just from fans. On another list that ranks the world's best tennis players, Sharapova also comes in second, and this time her achievement is perhaps more remarkable because the list covers men and women.

Only Andre Agassi pulls in more than Sharapova's $22.5 million (?12m) a year from endorsements. Sharapova, whose conventional good looks have gained her a contract with IMG Models, also has deals with Colgate-Palmolive, Nike, Prince, Microsoft, Honda, Pepsi, Motorola, Canon, NEC, Parlux Fragances and TAG Heuer, which make her the world's highest-paid female athlete. The watchmakers are bringing out a 3,000 limited-edition, diamond-encrusted 'Maria Sharapova' model at ?1,000 a pop. She can realistically dream of future earnings to match those of Tiger Woods ($77m last year) and immediately after her defeat of Serena Williams in last year's Wimbledon final, the Russian's projected earnings were $150m over 10 years. It might be much, much more.

The next highest earner on the list is Serena Williams. Yet despite her having won six more slams, including all four between May 2002 and January 2003, the current Australian Open champion pulls in $7m less than Sharapova.

Why? 'It's not about the money to Maria, it's about winning, working hard and becoming a great champion,' says her agent Max Eisenbud. 'And this is what makes her so appealing to the world. She's on her way to becoming an icon.'

At some personal cost, it seems. In April, Sharapova celebrated her eighteenth birthday at New York's Hiro Ballroom. It was a bash organised by one of her sponsors and one wonders how many of her friends attended. Sharapova, who becomes animated when discussing her own brand of perfume, readily describes herself as 'part athlete, part businesswoman' - a rare explicit acknowledgement by a sports star that their corporate brand is as important as the game that made them.

Refreshingly honest, but where does that leave her tennis? 'Well, I know the balance between tennis and my off-court stuff so I've been able to deal with it really well. I enjoy everything that I do. If I felt I was doing too much then I wouldn't be doing it.'

Not everyone agrees, though. Following a 6-0 6-0 walloping by Davenport in the semi-finals at Indian Wells in March, Sharapova's coach Robert Lansdorp said: 'She's not physically strong enough to maintain the schedule that's been set for her.'

Sharapova mentions in Birmingham that she is tired, so I ask her if that's normal at this stage of the season. 'Are you trying to tell me I'm burnt-out or something?' she responds quickly. 'Because that's what it sounds like.'

I assure her, no, but wonder whether it is a concern going into Wimbledon. 'That's the life of an athlete. Every day you're going to wake up and not be feeling great. You might have a cold, but we travel around every single week so it's normal. There's so much bacteria around the world. If I was home every day I'm sure I wouldn't be sick. You have to find a way. I was really ill at the beginning of the year in Paris. I couldn't even walk.'

Sharapova pulled out of the Paris Open in February with flu, then continued with a schedule that has taken her to Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, the Middle East, Europe and numerous returns to Florida, where she lives. She has played 42 matches this year (36 wins, six defeats) and shown remarkable resilience. Following the loss to Davenport, Sharapova underlined her mental strength by reaching the final in Miami the following week, beating Justine Hénin-Hardenne along the way.

Sharapova and her father, Yuri, famously arrived at Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy in Florida with just $700 and no English. She was nine years old and would not see her mother, Yelena, for two years - she stayed behind in Sochi on the Black Sea. 'I speak to her a few times every day.

We are very close.' It must be a strain to Sharapova that her painfully shy mother does not follow her daughter on the circuit. 'The tougher the situation, the tougher you have to be mentally,' Sharapova says. 'I've always been tough. Since I was young I was expected to do well and people always thought I'd do great.'

Sharapova now travels with his daughter and, like Richard Williams, the father of Serena and Venus, and many more before him, he has a reputation for occasionally being overbearing.

'He [Yuri] was just yelling and screaming instructions. I thought he might just jump on the court,' said the 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina after losing to Sharapova in the WTA Championship last November. 'If she joins our [Russia] team next season, you won't see me there.'

Sharapova is yet to represent her homeland in the Fed Cup, citing age, schedule and physical development as factors. 'We understand,' says Aleksei Selivanenko, vice-president of the Russian Tennis Federation. And Yuri's outburst in Los Angeles? 'He should not have done it. But life is long. The aim of the federation is to unite players and this is what we're doing. And everybody around them is welcome. It is like a soccer team - people may not like each other but they must play together.'

Having lived in Florida for most of her life, does Sharapova consider herself Russian? 'Of course.' Will you play for Russia? 'Yeah, of course I will play. I'm playing right now for Russia.' And the problems with the other Russian players? 'I get along with all of them. Right now I'm not ready physically to play Fed Cup, but I want to play it in future years for sure.'

Sharapova's victory over Hénin-Hardenne in Miami was her sole success against the Belgian this year and she lost to her in the French Open earlier this month. Does she regard Hénin-Hardenne as her main rival at Wimbledon? 'At the French I'm not going to say she was the better player.

Mentally she was stronger and looking back at the tape I was totally out of it. I didn't fight at all.'

Why? 'How I can tell you a month after that? I thought I did fight, but look at my face when it's three-all and look at hers. That's the difference.' But you would expect to beat her on grass? 'I'm going to do my best to beat everyone, not just her. Every match is different. We had a tough one in Miami and I ended up winning that, though she still played great tennis.'

Other threats over the next fortnight include Davenport and the Williams sisters. All three have won Wimbledon, though Serena has only recently recovered from the ankle injury that prevented her playing in the French Open and Venus, ranked 16, is a fading force.

Since last year, Sharapova believes, she has learned how to win from difficult positions, but she is still trying to improve 'all and every shot', and wants to play at the net more.

Now she is impatient to start playing in the tournament she describes as 'a homecoming'. Would she choose another Wimbledon title ahead of the other majors? 'Definitely. But it's going to be tough as I'm one of the ones to beat. But I won it last year and I can cherish that for the rest of my life.'

To keep the money coming in and those blue-chip sponsors happy Sharapova will have to keep winning the big tournaments. Whether she has the talent to win trophies and satisfy all those off-court commitments should be clearer by the end of Wimbledon fortnight. #p#

俄罗斯美少女玛丽亚·莎拉波娃是仅次于美国大妞达文波特的世界女子职业网球2号选手。莎拉波娃因其出色的球技和出众的外貌成为了世界上众多知名大企业的“宠儿”。

据英国《卫报》6月19日报道，通过参与各种商业活动，她每年可以获得大约2250万美元的收入，成为最赚钱的女子职业网球选手。这个数字要比来自美国的小威廉姆斯多出大约7万美元。而在这方面能超过莎拉波娃的也只有美国网坛老将阿加西，不过不要忘了阿加西的性别。正如莎拉波娃自己所说的那样，她一半是女子网球职业选手，另一半是商人。按照她的计划，她希望能在未来十年内挣到1.5亿美元。其实这个数字对她而言显然有些太保守了。

为什么莎拉波娃能在比赛和商业活动上取得双赢？关于这个问题，她的经纪人艾森巴德有自己的解释：“对玛丽亚而言，这不仅仅是赚多少钱的问题。她的目标就是获胜、努力地训练并成为一名伟大的冠军。而正是她的这种个人魅力，才让世界这样为她着迷。她现在正在朝着偶像级人物的方向发展。”

谈到如何在不影响比赛的前提下从事商业活动，莎拉波娃也有自己的见解：“我知道比赛和商业活动的平衡点，所以我能很好地驾驭它们。我喜欢我所作的一切。如果有一天我觉得自己做得太多，那我就不去做就是了。”

其实并不是每个人都同意莎拉波娃的上述解释。在今年3月美国的家庭圈杯网球赛半决赛上，莎拉波娃被美国大妞达文波特打了两个6-0。当时她的教练兰斯多普就曾经表示说，她的体能储备根本不足以支持她按照计划去训练和比赛。

在采访中，莎拉波娃也承认自己现在感到很累，但认为对于职业球员而言，这完全是正常的。她说：“作为一名职业球员，你就要做好到处奔波的准备。有时你一大早醒来，发现自己可能已经感冒了，但你还是必须到处跑去参加比赛，这是很正常的。世界各地到处都是病菌，如果我整天呆在家里，我肯定就不会生病了，但作为运动员，你就必须自己想办法解决。在今年2月巴黎网球赛上，我就得了病，当时病得都走不动了。”2月的巴黎网球公开赛上，莎拉波娃因感冒不得不退出比赛，但随后莎拉波娃就远赴香港、澳大利亚、日本、中东和欧洲参赛，期间多次往返于她的现住地美国佛罗里达。今年莎拉波娃一共打了42场比赛，其中36胜6负，表现出了相当的稳定性。

莎拉波娃在今年3月在美国迈阿密举行的网球赛上曾经战胜过伤愈复出的比利时姑娘海宁，但那也是莎拉波娃今年唯一的一次对海宁的胜绩。在本月早些时候举行的法网公开赛上，莎拉波娃又一次输给了海宁，而海宁在最后的决赛上击败了法国本土选手皮尔斯，重新站在了法网最高领奖台上。谈到海宁，莎拉波娃表示：“在法网公开赛上，我不能说海宁就是最好的，但是她在意志上确实很坚强。回过头来看看当时比赛的录像，我发现当时我根本不在状态，我好像根本就没有怎么抵抗就输了球。”

“那么你会在温网的草地上击败她吗？”对于这个问题，莎拉波娃显然很有准备：“在温网，我会尽我最大的努力击败任何一名选手，不只是海宁。”

展望两个星期后的温网，对莎拉波娃威胁最大的选手的确除海宁外，还有排名世界第一的美国人达文波特和威廉姆斯姐妹。这三名选手以前都曾经夺得过温网的女子单打冠军。不过因扭伤了脚踝而不得不退出法网的小威现在伤势刚刚开始好转，而她的姐姐大威现在显然已经今不如昔。

自去年夺取温网女子单打冠军之后，莎拉波娃自认为学会了如何从逆境中战胜对手。而对温网有所偏爱的莎拉波娃，今年同样不会错过再次“称后”的机会。谈到卫冕，莎拉波娃表示：“我绝对希望重温旧梦。但人人都想打败我，因此比赛一定会非常艰苦。好在去年我在这里拿了一个冠军，这个冠军可以让我回味一辈子。”

虽然莎拉波娃非常希望在温网能有一个好的表现，但疲劳仍然是她现在面临的一个最大难题。在伯明翰参加练习赛期间，英国BBC广播电台曾有幸获得十分钟采访莎拉波娃的机会，但由于莎拉波娃在采访中的疲惫表现，主持人不得不在3分钟后就中断了采访。由此可见莎拉波娃的体力透支已经到了何等程度。

然而要想在商业上取得成功，获得更多收入，莎拉波娃就必须继续在大满贯赛事上有更好的表现。如何在商业活动和体育比赛之间找到一个平衡点，的确是困扰莎拉波娃的一大难题。不过答案很快就会在两个星期后开始的温网上揭晓。