Sharapova in final
Overcomes Kerber challenge at Porsche Grand Prix
Stuttgart (Germany), April 27: Defending champion Maria Sharapova on Saturday booked her place in the final of the Stuttgart WTA tournament after seeing off Germany’s Angelique Kerber with a 63, 2-6, 7-5 victory in yet another three-set tussle.
The 26-year-old Russian has also been taken to three sets in both her previous matches, when she saw off Lucie Safarova, then Ana Ivanovic in Friday’s semi, and showed some grit to see off Kerber, who was cheered on by the crowd.
French Open champion Sharapova has played seven-and-a-half hours in her three matches here on clay, but comfortably took the first set with two breaks, before Kerber returned the compliment in the second.
The third-set was a battle royal as the pair shared five breaks and third-seed Kerber refused to yield until the final phase of the match.
The German played some great line shots to frustrate the Russian and level at 5-5 before Sharapova held her serve, then used her third and final break to take the match.
“All credit to Angelique, she played a great match,” said Sharapova, who won last year’s tournament here on her Stuttgart debut before going on to win the fourth Grand Slam title of her career at Roland Garros.
“I won this tournament last year on the way to the French Open so I am really pleased to get back into the final again.”
In Sunday’s final, Sharapova will face either second-seed Li Na of China or Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA. — AFP