Video: Fergie, Fergie sign her up! Maria Sharapova shows off football skills

Maria Sharapova looks to have the talent to swap tennis for a football career after showing off her neat footwork during a gym session on Wednesday.

The former world No1 booked her place in the quarter-finals of the China Open thanks to a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over Carla Suarez Navarro in the third round.

Twenty-seven-year-old Sharapova has already beaten Kaia Kanepi and Elina Svitolina in Beijing this week and is looking to win her fourth title of the year.

And the Russia gave an insight into her training methods after playing a quick game of football tennis.

Speaking after her straight sets victory on Wednesday, Sharapova said: “I started off the match really well, which is something I didn’t do when I lost to her in Montreal.

“She was the more aggressive then and today from the beginning I led her to make a few more mistakes than she wanted to.

“Towards the middle of the second set I became more passive. It’s something that I think gave her the chance to move in a little bit more, to approach and come in, start hitting the ball a bit deeper.

“That made it a little trickier. But overall I thought I did a good job of coming back in that tie-breaker.”