Sharapova relents

Sky TV reporter James McOnie with the placard he brandished at Monday's press conference with Maria Sharapova. Photo / Supplied

Tennis star Maria Sharapova has played down the incident where a New Zealand journalist was labelled a stalker.

The Crowd Goes Wild reporter James McOnie had a feisty exchange with the Russian ace at the Australian Open where she jokingly suggested he was stalking her. News of the exchange went around the world.

Last night she said: "I think that [it] just got a little carried away with people reading the transcript and not showing up to the press conference."