Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova has to leave the 2010 Australian Open after her defeat on the opening day,
The defeat of the 22-year-old tennis player, who holds three Grand Slam titles, including the 2008 Australian Open, has disappointed her numerous fans. She was knocked out in the first game of this season’s major tennis tournament by her compatriot Maria Kirilenko in three sets 6-7, 6-3, 4-6.
However, Sharapova, the 2009 richest Russian athlete, whose income mainly comes from advertising contracts, is not losing any ranking points as the WTA standings are based on a 12-month period system and since she missed last year’s Australian Open, she had no points to defend this time.
