The Russian's love affair with grasscourts came to an abrupt end at the hands of Venus Williams in the gathering Centre Court gloom.

It brought to an end a tremendous 22-match unbeaten streak on the surface which took in back-to-back titles at Birmingham and last year's stunning title triumph over Williams' younger sister Serena.

But it will have done little to dull the glitter that has catapulted the statuesque blond to super stardom in the space of the last 12 months.

Already she is turning to the future.

"I guess there are many more years to come," she said after absorbing the dismay of her defeat to Williams.

"I think I need to be stronger. The stronger I get, the bigger my serve will be, the easier it will be for me to hold my serve and get more free points.

"I know with hard work and practice and repetition it will get bigger and stronger and more accurate."

Sharapova had looked in imperious form in her five previous games leading up to the match with Williams, seven years her senior, and she had a 2-0 winning head-to-head record against the American 2000 and 2001 Wimbledon winner.

But she insisted that she had not been guilty of over confidence against a player whose career had been in a deep tailspin over the last year in contrast to her own rapid rise to the top.

"I was ready for a tough match. It's normal. It was a semifinal," she said.

"It was just one of those days where she played a great match and I don't think I played my best tennis."

"I don't really feel tired right now. Maybe I'm mentally tired."

The defeat also put on ice Sharapova's ambition to become the first Russian to be ranked world No.1.

She came within one win of doing so last month, but Lindsay Davenport held on and the Russian's failure to match her title triumph of last year means that she will lose ranking points here while Davenport will not having once again won through to the semi-finals.

Sharapova will now turn her attentions to the hardcourt tournaments in North America and the buildup to the US Open at Flushing Meadow, where she lost in the third round last year.

And there is also her booming personal endorsements market with her high profile name being used for everything from perfumes to mobile hones and from postal stamps to top of the line fashion.

She may have lost her crown, but Sharapova still rules over a multi-million dollar business empire.