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Sharapova Outslugs Safarova in Stuttgart Thriller

Apr 22nd 2014
Maria Sharapova

One of the most dramatic WTA matches of the 2014 season so far unfolded in Stuttgart on Tuesday.  Two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova opened her clay campaign against Lucie Safarova for the second straight year.  This matchup intrigued from the start, for the pair had played a tense three-setter in Stuttgart last year and another in Miami last month.  But even the highest expectations were exceeded by the 204-minute epic that unfolded at the Porsche Grand Prix.

The first three-tiebreak match of Sharapova's career began with a set in which neither woman dropped serve.  Just one break point apiece did the Russian and the Czech face in that set as they dominated behind their first serves.  Stuttgart's controlled indoor conditions have rewarded offensive tennis despite its transition from hard courts to clay, and both of these brilliant shot-makers shone in that setting.  A single mini-break on the sixth point of the tiebreak gave Sharapova the only margin that she needed to claim an early lead.

At that stage, the task loomed large for Safarova.  Not since 2008 had Sharapova lost on clay after winning the first set.  Still, Safarova had defeated the Russian on this surface (albeit outdoors) four years ago in Madrid, and she responded to adversity with aplomb.  Building a 3-0 lead, the Czech threatened to take control of the second set.  But Sharapova would have none of it, surging back to 3-3 after an emphatic love hold.

Safarova would save three break points over her next two service games.  Considering how efficiently Sharapova had served for most of their encounter, those were all but match points.  With the defending champion scenting the finish line, however, Safarova held firm.  She made no further inroads in return games, but she clawed her way into a second tiebreak.  Once again, a single mini-break proved the only difference between the two women.  After 132 minutes and 172 percussive points, there was nothing to choose between them.

The tension of those first two sets merely heightened in the decisive stanza.  While Sharapova had dominated opponents in third sets for most of 2012 and 2013, she had produced less impressive results in that area this season.  Losses at the Australian Open, the Paris Indoors, and Indian Wells had shown her challengers that they could outlast her, which had not always looked possible during the previous two years. 

And it did not look likely midway through the third set in Stuttgart.  Regrouping from early break points, Sharapova reeled off four straight games to seize control with a 5-1 lead.  The climax of this drama still lay ahead, though.  With Sharapova serving for the match at 5-3, Safarova saved a match point and converted her third break point to stay alive.  This shift in momentum seemed fleeting when she quickly fell behind 15-40 in her next service game at 4-5.  Two more match points beckoned for Sharapova there, but she could not capitalize.

Emboldened by the reprieve, Safarova escaped the game and broke the defending champion.  Her own chance to serve for the match awaited, and she leaped out to a 30-0 lead.  Never is a situation hopeless for Sharapova, however, who always battles until the last point.  Her competitive ferocity saw her sweep the next three points to set up a break point, which Safarova conceded with a double fault.

Second chances rarely come against a champion of the Russian's caliber, and so it proved for Safarova.  Sharapova swept through the decisive tiebreak 7-2, winning 11 of the last 13 points after she had tottered within two points of defeat.  The three-hour, 24-minute affair had tested her focus and determination to the limit, but this is the sort of test that showcases her greatest strengths. 

In the next round, Sharapova will have a chance to avenge one of her previous three-set losses this year.  Compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who also won her Stuttgart opener today, rallied from losing the first set to Sharapova at the Paris Indoors in February.  Pavlyuchenkova has tested her more famous fellow Russian on other occasions as well, so another intriguing battle could lie ahead.