Maria Sharapova, the Queen of Scream as she was dubbed in Birmingham, produced another ear-splitting performance to not only outwail but also outplay Ashley Harkleroad 6-2, 6-1 on her debut at The Championships.

The 16 year-old Russian, who first came to the public's attention last year when she was runner-up in the Girl's event, has progressed rapidly up the senior rankings with her powerful groundstrokes and aggressive, fist punching style of play, all moulded in the cauldron of the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida.

There is no give in her game, all shots being met while the ball is on the rise thereby giving little chance for opponents to settle or maintain some sort of balance with all her winners eliciting a clenched fist and the cry of 'Buena Baby'.

This proved effective in Birmingham where she reached the semi-finals collecting some memorable scalps en-route, amongst them that of her compatriot Elena Dementieva.

So it was understandable that under such an onslaught, 18 year-old Harkleroad should visibly wilt though on several occasions, she showed she had the game to punish Sharapova.

Desperation eventually crept into the American's play as she continued, from one-all in the second set, in her vain attempts to stem the tide of missiles being launched at her, all of which accompanied by that intimidatingly explosive shriek.

The match itself took just 59 minutes with Sharapova dominating with her serve, despite striking just 53% of her first serves in from which she claimed 83% were winners. In contrast, Harkleroad, with a higher percentage of first serves, could only convert 66% into winners and as a result was broken four times.