Russian-born tennis star Maria Sharapova, who's known best for her aggressive forehand and backhand, is getting in touch with her sweeter side...by launching a line of candy, called Sugarpova, sure to please even the sourest opponents.

Sharapova is ranked #2 in the world of tennis, but this is her first business venture. She says she "really wanted to start something of my own, to start my own business." She added, "When the name Sugarpova came about, I loved the energy of it. When we put it together with candy, I just felt like it was a great opportunity."

She first launched Sugarpova in August before the US Open at Henri Bendel, the New York fashion retailer. After this soft launch, she tweaked some final elements - redesigning the package and naming the candies - before launching the candies again. Sharapova appeared in person on Saturday afternoon in Manhattan Beach, CA at Tabula Rasa, a high-end boutique, to promote her line.

The focus on gummy confections is the result of a life-long love.  Sharapova told the Daily Breeze, a Manhattan Beach newspaper that covered the launch, "I moved to the U.S. when I was 7 years old from Russia," she said. "Probably when I was a little bit older and I went to the movie theater and I saw the stand of candy where we could pick our own candy and we didn't have that in Russia. That was my fascination with gummies."

Each variety is named after a personality characteristic and has a corresponding shape - "Flirty" is a pair of pouting lips, "Chic" is miniature pumps and purses, and "Sporty", the top seller so far, is shaped like-what else? - tennis balls.

Sharapova has been promoing the line via her Facebook and Twitter pages and other social media. The candy is sold online at sugarpova.com and at luxury shops such as Selfriges in London and Henri Bendel in the US. Sugarpova ha been recently launched in Australia and should hit the market in Russia, China and Japan soon. A portion of the sales will go to Sharapova's charitable foundation.