Maria's still learning

Maria Sharapova is in no mood to relinquish her Wimbledon title.

The 18-year-old Siberian breezed into the last 16 of the DFS Classic in Birmingham by beating the unseeded Anne Kremer 6-3, 6-0 and then warned the best is yet to come.

"I learned from last year," she said. "I'm going to the net more and volleying more, I feel a lot more confident in that. Last year maybe I was more one-dimensional."

Her next opponent - qualifier Evie Dominikovic or 16th seed Samantha Stosur - is unlikely to halt her march to Sunday's final but Sharapova is starting to feel the pressure. "In these tournaments you are expected to win because you are No2 in the world," she said. "That's difficult because it's impossible to keep at your best."

With Sharapova having a day off today, most eyes will centre on Tatiana Golovin, last year's beaten finalist from France who meets South African

Natalie Grandin, one of six qualifiers in the last 32.