It could be argued that Maria Sharapova had an ulterior motive for returning to Brisbane for her Australian Open tuneup.
And it had nothing to do with boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov playing in the same tournament or overwhelming success-- she lost to Serena Williams at last year's Brisbane International.
Maria Sharapova acknowledges how good a tennis player 33-year-old Serena Williams is.
Sharapova planned a not-so-secret rendezvous with someone else, the Daily Mail reported. Or something else.
Maria Sharapova decides to volley with a 10-year-old cancer survivor
Sharapova got reacquainted with Sinnamon the Koala after routing Yaroslava Shvedova 6-0, 6-1 in her opening match at the Brisbane International.
She talked about Sinnamon on her Twitter account: "This is our second meeting. We're bonding. #Australia #Koala"
She first met Sinnamon at last year's Brisbane event, the Daily Mail reported, and took several photos with the friendly creature.
Sinnamon provided the escape - however brief - Sharapova needed before returning to the tournament and stopping Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semifinals of the event in a little more than an hour.
Sharapova is the No. 1 seed in Brisbane.
According to ABC.net.au, the No. 2-ranked player in the world and tournament top seed next will face Elina Svitolina, who upset third-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semifinals.
In addition to her scheduled time with Sinnamon, Maria Sharapova recently told Tennis Magazine that No. 1 Serena isn't slowing down, despite her age.
"You can't say someone is on the edge of the cliff when they are No. 1 in the world," Sharapova said of Williams, according to tennis.com. "She still came through and finished the season strong. Even though she's 33 years old, she's still very strong and very powerful and has so much experience and that shows when she plays on court."
Which could be another reason Sharapova sought out a little koala karma.
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