By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, May 17, 2015
Maria Sharapova reeled off six straight games to close a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 triumph over Carla Suarez Navarro in the Rome final.
Photo credit: Internazionali BNL D'Italia
Down a break in the decisive set, Maria Sharapova banged her clenched fist against her thigh. Sharapova spent the rest of the set pounding a spent Carla Suarez Navarro into submission.
Striking with conviction, Sharapova reeled off six straight games roaring to a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory to capture her third career Rome title.
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"[It's] a special victory," Sharapova told the crowd after clinching her 35th career title. "Every time you are able to hold the trophy again it brings back memories of winning here."
The reigning Roland Garros champion continues to clean up on clay. Sharapova collected her 11th career clay-court title, tying world No. 1 Serena Williams for the WTA lead among active players.
In the process, she put some distance between herself and Serena, who withdrew from the tournament before her scheduled quarterfinal with an elbow injury. Reaching the Rome final, the Russian will surpass Simona Halep, who lost in the semis to Suarez Navarro, and regain the world No. 2 ranking tomorrow. That means Sharapova would not have to face Williams, who has dominated her in an 11-year win streak, until a possible French Open final rematch.
It took the third seed some time to find her range and rhyhm today, but once she did Sharapova overwhelmed a drained Suarez Navarro, whose movement was diminished by both the effects of three-set battles earlier in the week and chasing Sharapova's flat blasts around the court for two-and-a-half hours.
Contesting her first Rome final, the Spaniard made a spirited start.
In a four-deuce fourth game, Suarez Navarro fought off three break points, hitting her first ace to dig out a hard-fought hold for 2-2.
Denying that threat empowered her. Sharapova dragged a forehand wide to face a second break point. Stepping into the court, Suarez Navarro buried a forehand winner into the corner, breaking for 3-2.
The Miami finalist backed up the break at love. Successive Suarez Navarro love holds put pressure on Sharapova, who saved two set points in the ninth game.
Fortune favored the Roland Garros champion on the first set point. She cut a drop shot that skimmed off the top of the tape, hung in indecision briefly, then dribbled over on her opponent's sidet. On set point two, Suarez Navarro sailed her favorite shot, the one-handed backhand, as Sharapova grinded out a demanding hold for 4-5.
Serving for the set, Suarez Navarro navigated a 5-30 hole, jamming a serve into Sharapova's hip to seal the 51-minute set on her third set point. Sharapova tripled Suarez Navarro's winner output in the set (16 to 5), but nearly doubled her opponent's unforced errors (18 to 10).
Dropping her first set of the tournament, Sharapova took a bathroom break to regroup.
Jolting a backhand winner down the line, Sharapova broke for the first time, for a 3-1 second-set lead. But she gave the break right back slapping a double fault into net. Sharapova staved off a break point in the seventh game, eventually earning a crucial hold for 4-3.
Fatigue from winning a trio of three-setters en route to the final finally caught up with the 26-year-old Spaniard, who double faulted and sprayed a forehand to fall behind 5-3.
Sharapova saved three break points trying to serve out the set, but could not deny the fourth. Suarez Navarro eventually evened the set, 5-5, but a ruthless Sharapova began cracking the ball with more authority, reeling off eight consecutive points to close the second set.
At that point, Sharapova seemed poised to score a quick knock-out in the decisive set. Suarez Navarro, who carried a WTA-best 17-3 record in three setters into the decider, made a final stand breaking to open the third. But she was soon clutching at her hamstrings and forced into defensive positions by her opponent.
Shrugging it off, Sharapova stepped into the court and cranked up her crosscourt forehand. She won eight of the next nine points for a 2-1 advantage. Successive forehand errors from Suarez Navarro gave the Russin a second straight break. Blasting a deep forehand return, Sharapova broke again for 5-1. She slashed an inside-out forehand winner to close in two hours, 35 minutes.
Sharapova has now won 62 of her last 68 matches on clay and will arrive in Paris carrying both confidence and the all-important second seed.