Sharapova Begins Title Defense in Stuttgart, as Wozniacki and Cibulkova Withdraw
Maria Sharapova opened up her defense of the Porsche Grand Prix Championship Tuesday in Stuttgart, Germany by squeaking by her first round opponent Lucie Safarova 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-6(2). The Russian has won this event the last two years and hopes to remain champion in Stuttgart, Germany.
Also on Tuesday, former world number one Caroline Wozniacki pulled out of the event with a left wrist injury as did Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, who also withdrew with an Achilles injury, a day after losing the Malaysian Open final.
Sharapova was tested earlier than expected in this tournament and required more than three hours to take down the Czech Republic native to secure her 100th career victory on clay. At a number of moments throughout the match Sharapova appeared to be on the verge of closing out the match, but Safarova did not give in and continued to battle back.
After the match was pushed to a third-set tiebreaker, the sixth-seeded Russian jumped out to a 5-1 lead and looked in control. Safarova, who battled Sharapova for nearly three hours just two weeks prior in Miami, won five straight games to jump ahead 6-5.
The Czech even led 30-0 in the next game and was just two points away from victory. Sharapova proved her championship pedigree was no fluke as she reeled off 11 of the next 13 points, coming from behind to clinch the match.
“I think Lucie is an exceptional player,” said Sharapova. “She’s presented me a lot of challenges when we’ve played in the past, and going into the match today I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy one.”
It was the first time that a WTA match went to three tie-breaks since Serena Williams beat Vera Dushevina in 2010. Sharapova now moves on to face fellow Russian Anastasia Paylyuchenkova, who defeated her Latvian opponent Diana Marcinkevica, 6-3, 6-2.
