Roland Garros champion Sharapova has spent two years rolling out 'Sugarpova' candy

Maria Sharapova isn't alone in Beijing. She has her candy.

The 25-year-old Russian was excited to see Chinese fans holding her namesake candy, "Sugarpova", while watching her morning practice at the China Open on Saturday.

During a successful season in which she won the French Open and regained the world No 1 spot in a two-week span, Sharapova also launched her candy in the United States in August, the week before the US Open began.

"I started it first with my love of candy in general and food, and then the name Sugarpova came about and I put the two together," she said. "It's much easier than playing tennis, that's for sure. I laugh a lot more, it's not as stressful. It's so different from what I do.

"I worked on it for the last two years. I feel like it's been my lucky charm in a way, because it was during the time when I've gotten myself back from injury, got back to No 1, and won the French Open.

"I have been part of so many great partnerships and collaborations and collections in my career, but at the end of the day I was always a very small part of that. I really wanted to own something that was 100 percent, you know, me making all the final decisions, whether it was financial or creative decisions. I really wanted to be in the process the whole way.

"I actually saw a few fans today that had some of it. I think they had friends in the US that shipped it over to them. The response has been really incredible. I'm working on the launch in Australia now before the Australian Open, and I hope to bring it to China soon."

Sharapova, seeded second, will play her first match in Beijing against Romanian Simona Halep, whom she defeated in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open in India in March.

"She can play really good. I think she was injured a little bit in the summer. I think it's just trying to change last week around and coming into this tournament with a fresh new perspective," Sharapova said.

"It doesn't really matter who it is. I think if I follow through and focus on what I have to do, that's pretty much my priority right now."

Sharapova took an easygoing stance on regaining the world No 1 spot, which she lost to Victoria Azarenka after the US Open.

"The way I look at things is the more matches you win, the better opportunity you have toward getting to No. 1. You don't really have to look at other opponents or what the ranking is," she said. "If you focus on your own results and trying to win matches and you do, then you're going to have a good ranking either way."

tangzhe@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/30/2012 page12)