Australian Open 2010: Maria Sharapova dumped out by Maria Kirilenko

On the first afternoon of the grand slam year, and probably even before the cheese-board had been passed around in the corporate hospitality tents at Melbourne Park, Sharapova was out of the tournament, with the 2008 champion losing in the first round of a slam for the first time since 2003, back when she was 16 and before she was famous.

For Nike, and for the Australian Open’s sponsors, the wrong Russian blonde called Maria just made the second round here. In the days leading up to this slam, Sharapova signed the most lucrative endorsement contract by a sportswoman in history, with an eight-year extension to her arrangement with Nike that is believed to be worth up to £43 million.

Yet, in the first match of the tournament on the main stadium, which had its roof closed because of the rain, she lost 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, and about the only consolation for the former world No 1 was that she was out on court for almost three and a half hours, which was plenty of air-time for the new dress she was wearing from Nike’s Maria Sharapova Collection.

Few would have imagined that a British girl would have gone further into the draw than Sharapova, after Elena Baltacha came through her match on an outside court.

Only twice before has Sharapova lost in the first round of a grand slam, at the 2003 Australian Open and the 2003 French Open. Back then, Sharapova had come through qualifying to make the main draw. In 2010, things were very different. Sharapova was appearing in Melbourne for the first time since she won the Daphne Akhurst Trophy a couple of years ago, since she missed last year’s tournament as she recuperated from an operation to fix the weakness in her shoulder.

During the build-up to this first-round meeting, there was considerably more discussion about Sharapova’s money, her tennis dress and her match-day earrings than there was about Kirilenko’s game. As an old friend from the junior circuit, Kirilenko probably knows Sharapova’s game better than anyone else in the draw. Kirilenko achieved the most important victory of her tennis life, and had been urging her boyfriend, Igor Andreev, to beat Roger Federer in the first round of the men’s tournament, a match that was due to be played during today’s afternoon session.

“Before the matches he said that we can start the year loud,” she had said. “And I have already started the year loud, I think. Now it’s his turn.”

With all the attention on the two Marias, the two ‘unretired’ Belgians were able to go quietly about their business at Melbourne Park. Justine Henin achieved a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens and will next play Elena Dementieva, Russia’s world No 5. Belgium’s other former world No 1, Kim Clijsters, returned to Melbourne with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Valerie Tetreault, a Canadian qualifier.