Sharapova entertains crowd in exhibition event

Russia’s Maria Sharapova gestures during an exhibition tennis match with Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic against Italy’s Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

MILAN — Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic won singles matches against Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in an exhibition event Saturday before losing to the Italians in doubles.

Ivanovic delighted the crowd with an audacious shot between her legs while facing away from the net in her 7-5 tiebreak win over Vinci, who won 6-0, 6-0 against the Serb in August.

Sharapova beat Errani 6-2 in another entertaining duel. The second-ranked player high-fived a line judge after a shot from Errani was called out. She also pretended to glare at a spectator after he broke the silence with a call of “Come on, Sara.”

The top-ranked duo of Errani and Vinci won 6-4 in the doubles, much to the delight of the 11,000 spectators at the sold-out event in Milan.