"Is that Maria Sharapova?" one Japanese tourist asked incredulously of her partner as they sat at a fast food outlet in the international arrivals hall.
Sharapova landed in Auckland this morning after a flight from Los Angeles to prepare for the ASB Classic tennis tournament, which begins next Monday.
The glamorous Russian, a three-time Grand Slam title winner, is the top seed for the event.
Dressed in an olive green top, black jacket, dark grey trousers and a grey scarf, she was welcomed by tournament director Richard Palmer and went straight to a waiting car.
A former world No 1, the 23-year-old Sharapova goes into the Classic with a ranking of 18 after a year in which she came back from a shoulder injury.
Palmer said Sharapova's appearance at the tournament had created big public and media interest, with ticket sales well in advance of previous years at the same stage.
He was sure any tickets left available for the sessions when she would be on court would be quickly snapped up.
Sharapova will find out who her first-round opponent is when the draw is made on Saturday.
Palmer said no decision had yet been made as to when Sharapova would play her opening match.
"We will go very much by what she wants and her coach wants," he said.
"One of the first things I'll do once she has got settled in is to get the coach aside and have a bit of a chat as to exactly what her requirements are."
Palmer has been the Classic's tournament director on 12 previous occasions and he said there hadn't been a bigger attraction in that time.
"Anna Kournikova was a big drawcard, and we've had Mary Pierce and Lindsay Davenport, who were big as well," he said.
"But she's by far be the biggest."
