WIMBLEDON, England - To confirm that Maria Sharapova has become a big deal at Wimbledon, a two-story billboard bearing her close-up image hovers over the village up the hill from the All England Club.

"I didn't know anything about it until I saw it," Sharapova said with a laugh. "I got halfway down the street and I was like, `Whoa.'"

The precocious, personable Russian became an instant international celebrity last year when she won Wimbledon. At 17, she was the third-youngest singles champion - male or female - in the tournament's 118-year history.

Now she's seeded No. 2 behind Lindsay Davenport. Oddsmakers list Sharapova and French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne as co-favorites.

"It's going to be a lot harder to defend than winning for the first time," Sharapova said Sunday. "Last year I was 17 years old, and who expected me to win? Obviously there are going to be more expectations, and that's absolutely normal for a player that's No. 2 in the world."

Sharapova, who plays No. 36-ranked Nuria Llagostera Vives in her opening match Tuesday, has taken steps to ensure a glittering performance again this year. She said she'll wear shoes with specks of 18-karat gold on the sides.

"It shines unbelievably," Sharapova said with a smile. "Hopefully it can distract my opponents a little bit."

Sharapova said she has 10 pairs of the gold-speckled shoes, which she estimated are worth at least $600 each. She can well afford the extravagance, because she's expected to pull in more than $20 million this year from endorsements, prize money and other sources.

A year ago, she was a promising teenager seeded 13th and known mostly for the shrieks that accompany her shots. Now she's among the world's most famous female athletes.

Even so, that big billboard in Wimbledon Village caught her by surprise.

"I was like telling my dad, `Do you see that?'" she said.

"He's like, `What? What? I don't see anything.'

"I'm like, `Hello, how can you not see anything?'"

For all the attention showered upon her, Sharapova's tennis hasn't suffered. She earned her third tournament title of the year last week on Birmingham's grass courts.

"She has been very successful on court, she has obviously been extremely successful off the court, and she still has the desire to play tennis," Davenport said. "I haven't seen her lose that at all. She has done a remarkable job of handling everything that has come her way."

As Sharapova has discovered, there are drawbacks to celebrity. One example: A man believed to be stalking her has been banned from the All England Club.

She said she knew nothing about the matter. And on the eve of the tournament, she voiced no complaints about being acclaimed "Supernova Sharapova."

"I've kept a really good balance between my tennis and other things that I do," she said. "Everything that I do off the court, I enjoy it. If I wouldn't be enjoying it, I wouldn't be doing it."

It's not all fun and games of tennis - Sharapova's wrapping up an algebra course and must complete her final exam before the end of Wimbledon.

"Once I get home, my mom has to see the exam finished," she said. "If she doesn't, I'm in trouble."

Tests on grass also loom. Sharapova offered no predictions about her chances, but she's savoring the return to her favorite tournament on her favorite surface.

"I'm just going to go out there and enjoy it and do the best I can to win, and just play my game," she said. "That's exactly the same thing I did last year."