Tennis: Ticket sales sizzling as Sharapova advances

Maria Sharapova says she was surprised by the number of people watching qualifying matches. Photo / Dean Purcell

So far so good.

Russian superstar Maria Sharapova overcame a disrupted opening day to progress serenely through to the second round of the ASB Classic.

She beat Italian Alberta Brianti who, as a lucky loser from qualifying, had the "fortune" to be defeated twice in a day, 6-2, 6-3.

"To be honest I was really excited to be back on court," Sharapova said.

"You have so much training and out-of-tournament competition and it's great to be in the atmosphere of a crowd."

The 23-year-old has been a godsend for the tournament, with officials saying it is effectively a sellout. There are gate sales tickets available for the evening sessions, but all day sessions are subscribed, the first time that has happened, according to director Richard Palmer.

Construction work means the 3200 capacity is slightly smaller than in previous years, but it is still a tribute to the pulling power of Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and co (though, let's be honest, it's all about Maria).

"I was even surprised yesterday, when I came out to practise, the amount of people here for the qualifying matches," Sharapova said. "From a player's perspective, that's really exciting."

The crowd on centre court got what they came for yesterday, with Sharapova's booming groundstrokes too strong for a player who, at No 92, was ranked 74 places behind her.

Wearing a self-designed, almost subdued purple and brown two-piece - "a little masculine, a little feminine" - Sharapova took a while to get comfortable with her game but, apart from a two-game mini-slump when she blew six match points in the seventh and eighth games of the second set, her dominance was not threatened.

Her serve was not awful by any stretch but at the same time Brianti had few problems getting most of them back.

"I'm not really looking to hit a lot of aces. Placement and accuracy on the serve is a little more important."

Sharapova now moves to the second round, where she will meet Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic, who beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 4-6, 7-6 (10), 6-0.

Another performance like yesterday's should see the top seed progress deep into this tournament.

Sharapova's day was not without drama, though none of it was of her own making.

The three-time Grand Slam winner was originally drawn to play Carla Suarez Navarro in a tricky first-round encounter, but that changed when fifth-seed Anastasija Sevastova pulled out with illness.

Suarez Navarro then became the eighth seed, though slotted into Sevastova's place in the draw, and will play Italian Romina Oprandi today.

Sharapova's match was rescheduled behind the doubles match involving New Zealander Marina Erakovic to accommodate the lucky loser from qualifying, Brianti.

Earlier she had been well beaten 6-3, 6-2 by promising British teenager Heather Watson.

"That [reschedule] was the only real hiccup today," Sharapova said. "Sometimes they're [qualifiers] the most dangerous opponents.

"She's already played a match, even though she lost it, it's like a second wind for her."