3rd seed Maria Sharapova, from Russia, came from a set down to beat Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 4-6 7-5 6-1 and win her 3rd Italian Open title. Suarez Navarro, the world number 10, battled hard in the first 2 sets but ran out of energy in the decider. What is more, her best chance came at 5-5 in the 2nd set but Sharapova finished the set with 8 straight points.
The Russian capitalized on her opponent’s weakness in the 3rd set as she swept to a 35th career crown.
Suarez Navarro, who was bidding for the 2nd title of her career, made a strong start and broke Sharapova midway through the first set as the Russian tried to force matters.
The Spaniard continued to cause problems in the 2nd set but once Sharapova found her way into the match she looked strong, despite committing plenty of unforced errors.
Sharapova, who will be second seed for the French Open which starts on 24 May, broke Suarez Navarro in the eighth game of the second set for a 5-3 lead and after going on to hand her opponent three break points in the next game, she eventually recovered to level the match.
The Russian handed Suarez Navarro a break point in the opening game of the third set and despite twice saving the game, the Spaniard moved ahead when Sharapova hit an easy return just wide.
That setback only served to spur the Russian on, who broke back immediately, sealing the game with a two-handed backhand return. From then on she dominated, holding serve on her final game to seal the victory.
Sharapova admitted she had too many errors in the opening set and beginning of the second, but said: “I thought the errors I was making… were really close. I felt like I was doing the right thing and I’m glad I gave myself a chance to cut those down.
“She’s a really all-around player who can step in, can step back. She was really far behind the baseline and I feel like I took advantage of that.
“I felt that I was the fresher one, felt like I was more aggressive.”
“Late in the third set I wasn’t there, I hadn’t prepared enough to be ready. To see where I was physically in the third set today was a huge difference against someone who can withstand a very long match,” added the Russian.
“That give me a lot of confidence. I’ve come a long way physically in the last few weeks. But it’s taken a lot of mental and physical work to get to this stage.”
Maria Sharapova vs Carla Suarez Navaro, 17/05/2015, 11:40 GMT, Match Center
Maria Sharapova triumphs with Italian Open title
No comments:
Post a Comment