This past Monday, I spent the day with tennis superstar Maria Sharapova for a story that will be in an upcoming issue of the magazine, due out early this summer. The piece is still under wraps, so I can't/won't tell you much about it, or which male athlete also flew out here to L.A. to be part of the story.

What I will tell you is that Sharapova is one of the most confident, mature 21-year-olds I've ever met, was fun to work with ... and never took off her five-inch heels. You wanna feel short? Spend a day standing next to a gal who's 6'7" in heels!

MARIA IS READY FOR HER CLOSE-UP ...

MARIA AND HER MYSTERY MAN ...