Sharapova drives home Porsche; Dimitrov wins

Maria Sharapova appeared in all kinds of trouble but the four-time Grand Slam champion rose to the occasion in fine style to clinch the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix here on Sunday.

The Russian, pushed to the wall by former fellow former World No 1 Ana Ivanovic, held her nerve before sealing a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win.

Sharapova came into the match as a strong favorite, not only being the two-time defending champion in Stuttgart but also leading Ivanovic in their head-to-head series 7-2, including winning their last six straight.

But hungry to turn the tables, Ivanovic would come out on absolute fire from the word go.
Her massive forehand flowing and her backhand rock solid, Ivanovic came storming out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and, after eventually closing that set out, 6-3, jumped out to a 3-1 second set lead.

Ivanovic even had a point for 4-1 in the second set but an untimely double fault erased that point for 4-1, and from there it was all Sharapova, as the sixth-seeded Russian reeled off 11 of the last 13 games.

In the doubles final, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy defeated India’s Sania Mirza and Zimbabwe’s Cara Black 6-2, 6-3 to emerge champions.

Dimitrov sparkles

Grigor Dimitrov won his third ATP World Tour title on Sunday, defeating defending champion Lukas Rosol 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 in the final of the BRD Nastase Tiriac Open at Bucharest.

Dimitrov took a 2-0 lead in the pair’s first meeting, but Rosol bounced back immediately. Rosol saved four set points while serving in the opening set before forcing the issue into a tie-break. Dimitrov, however, dominated the tie-break, wrapping up the first set.

Dimitrov maintained the momentum by taking a 2-0 lead in the second set.

Rosol got broken for a third time, to love at 1-3, giving Dimitrov greater confidence en route to his 20th match win of 2014.

Kei Nishikori won the Barcelona Open, defeating Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
Agencies