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 They come along like buses, these glamorous blonde Russians with their swishy, honey-coloured ponytails. Manufactured, presumably, in some remote industrial estate near Moscow, then flown to the West to make the photographers leap for joy.
First there was Anna Kournikova, queen of the sunshine hair and pearly white teeth. Now, there is Maria Sharapova, a willowy 16-year-old with the requisite slender ponytail that drips like liquid gold down her burnished brown back.
Sharapova has been hounded by the sobriquet “the new Kournikova” since she first appeared on the circuit. She has similar looks to her Russian contemporary — less traffic-stoppingly pretty, but slimmer and more elegant than Kournikova.
What really marks Sharapova out instantly as different from Kournikova, though, is her attitude and intensity on court. Yesterday, when she beat Ashley Harkleroad, from the United States, in straight sets, there was none of the preening, hair-flicking, skirt-twisting, smile-flashing, heavy-pouting nonsense that is such a feature of Kournikova's game. The flirting is replaced by a keen focus that ultimately will be Sharapova's greatest saviour and sharpest weapon.
“She played about 40 match-winning shots,” Harkleroad said. “There was nothing I could do out there.”
One feature of Sharapova's intensity on court is the noise that she makes while playing. Some opponents claim that it interferes with their concentration. Yesterday, the sound was there again - more a zinging hum and moan than a grunt, like an angry bumble bee seizing on pollen.
Her opponent made rather similar noises, so had no real cause for complaint. It meant that every time the women played a rally, it sounded like a chorus from Madame Butterfly as they ummed, aahed and gently moaned at each other like sopranos reaching the climax of an emotional duet.
The Siberian-born teenager was first spotted by Martina Navratilova a decade ago. The former Wimbledon champion's interest in her and recommendation of Sharapova earned the youngster a place at the famed Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.
She has said that her aim is to become the world No 1, but she clearly has the looks to make a great deal more money off court than on. This, she insists, holds no interest for her. She claims that “modelling is boring”. Whether this will continue as the commercial pressures upon her mount remains to be seen.
All the leading players earn more from endorsements than prize-money, but Kournikova's £2.14 million career on-court return is thought to comprise just a tenth of her income to date — and she has yet to win a singles title. If Sharapova can fulfil her potential, the financial rewards may dwarf that of Kournikova.
Yesterday, she made the first step towards the realisation of her dreams. Her victory was earned with such consummate ease that she set out a marker about her ability and potential in this tournament and many others to come. As she left No 2 Court, ushered along by about 250 security guards, someone shouted, in a truly Kournikova moment: “We love you, Maria.”
“Did you watch my match?” she replied, with her head down and her baseball cap pulled firmly over her eyebrows.
There is only one way in which this Russian wishes to be judged — by her performances on court.
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