ПЕКИН: Мария и Григор

Sharapova puts romance to second place Sep 28,2014 BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Fourth seed Maria Sharapova reached the second round of the China Open here on Sunday, and she decided to put romance to the second place, although her boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov plays here too, facing Fernando Verdasco in the first round. Sharapova beat Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and thirty minutes. As the runner-up in 2012 China Open, the Russian is touched by the enthusiastic Chinese fans. "The first thing I notice is how many great fans I have here. They’re following me from practice to the matches, all of them with different signs and pictures. It’s always nice to play in front of them." Sharapova said. Her boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov also plays as the fifth seed here, and he will face the first opponent Fernando Verdasco on Monday. Dimitrov is satisfied with his performance this year and climbed to the eighth place, the personal highest rank. At the press conference on Saturday the Bulgarian expressed his desire to visit the Forbidden City in Beijing. When the media asked about their plan in Beijing after the competition, the 27-year-old Sharapova said both of them will focus on the tournament right now instead of going to some attractions in Beijing. "Right now is not really the time for those attractions or things to see. It’s our workplace and we’re trying to make the most out of it." She said.