Why they all fear mighty Maria

The 20-year-old Russian is in the semi-finals of the Australian Open after a brilliant performance that sent Justine Henin tumbling to a first defeat in 33 matches and showed how she was able to win Wimbledon at just 17.

Sharapova defeated the world No 1 6-4, 6-0 and Henin, as well as Serena Williams, was left with nothing but rude awakenings from the year's first Grand Slam.

Both learned in their sobering defeats that even if you are the highest-ranked player or the defending champion nobody is immune to the march of Eastern Europe.

Henin heads back to Belgium with plenty of thinking to do after a failed attempted comeback in the first set and near-humiliation in the second.

Williams must wait for her apparent renewed commitment to tennis to pay off after losing 6-3, 6-4 to Jelena Jankovic, who at the beginning of last week had to save a first-round match point against littleknown Austrian Tamira Paszek.

Most striking was the declaration from Sharapova that her problems of last year, mostly relating to a troublesome shoulder, are emphatically behind her. Once she had taken an hour to subdue Henin in the first set it turned into a rout.

'It really felt like I was in a world of my own out there,' said Sharapova whose wonderful variety of shots was far too much, even for a great all-court player like the Belgian. Not only that but the Russian's serve was horrendously hard to deal with.

'I think it was one of my most consistent matches ever,' said Sharapova. 'The stars were shining. It was just meant to be.'

On this form she must be favourite to win her first Grand Slam since the 2006 U.S. Open, while Henin, whose 32 consecutive victories had been accumulated since losing in last year's Wimbledon semi-final, will know that her place as undisputed world No 1 could soon be under threat.

She had her knee taped but just about managed not to get involved in the more-injured-than-thou debates which often cloud the second weeks of Grand Slams on hard courts.

'I was a bit anxious because I knew my knee was not 100 per cent but it's not an excuse because she was better than me and deserved to win,' said Henin. 'She seems like a player who is really confident right now and she's got a great chance to win the tournament.'

Sharapova now meets Jankovic, with whom she used to spar at the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida through most of the age groups.

Jankovic was not expected to justify her position as third seed in this Grand Slam, following her first-round struggles and the fact that various parts of her anatomy are supposedly failing her.

She played a massive amount of tennis last season and has complained of a bad back, knee and shoulder this fortnight, labouring against opponents she would be expected to glide past.

Her desire to preserve her body is the main reason why she has resisted Jamie Murray's invitations to resume their mixed doubles partnership that triumphed at Wimbledon.