Sharapova Wins Third Consecutive Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Title
Former world number one Maria Sharapova picked up her 30th career WTA title on Sunday as she defeated Serbian Ana Ivanovic in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Sharapova had to scratch and claw to pull off the victory as she came back to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, and capture her third consecutive Porsche Grand Prix title in Stuttgart, Germany.
Ivanovic came out firing as she cruised out to a 5-0 lead in the first set behind the power of her forehand. After stumbling a bit, Ivanovic held on to win the set 6-3. She parlayed that into a 3-1 lead into the second set, and looked like she was on her way to the title.
However, once down 3-1 in the second set, Sharapova kicked into gear following a double-fault by Ivanovic that cost her chance at the 4-1 second set lead. Sharapova went on to win 11 of the next 13 games and never looked back.
“I just tried to hang in there," said Sharapova. “For the first half of the match I thought it might not be my day today, but somehow I turned it around."
Sharapova finished the match with a forehand return smash, her 34th winner of the day, to clinch the victory. Despite her slow start, Sharapova finished with 34 winners compared to just 24 unforced errors, and seemed to win the most critical points of the match.
