Maria Sharapova needed more than three hours to complete a marathon three-set comeback against US Open winner Sam Stosur to reach yesterday’s semi-finals at the Stuttgart WTA clay-court tournament.
With Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska all in yesterday’s semi-finals, this was the first time since Wimbledon 2009 that the world’s top four players have reached the last four at a WTA tournament.
Having won the first set tie-breaker, Stosur served for the match at 5-4 in the second only for Sharapova to hit back to claim a 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 victory after 3 hours, 1 minute on court.
The world No. 2 hit 11 aces, compared with Stosur’s seven, and as the quarter-final finished at just before 11pm, the Russian said recovery was her main concern.
“She has a great serve and she served as well as she ever has against me,” said Sharapova, who was to face third-seed Kvitova in yesterday’s semi-final after the Wimbledon champion’s 6-4, 6-4 win over Germany’s Angelique Kerber.
“It was pretty difficult to play against her, so I am very happy with the win. It’s not over until the last point has been played and you’ve shaken hands,” Sharapova said. “She had her chances to win, so I am just happy to have reached the last four. I have a second chance now and I intend to use it.”
Stosur was in a philosophical mood after a high-quality match when the only break point came in the third set.
“It sucks to lose, but when you play as well as I did tonight, you can’t be too hard on yourself,” Stosur said. “It was a very good match, we both played well and there wasn’t much in it. Towards the end of the third set, she started serving very well and put me under pressure to get the only break point.”
“The last game was the cherry on top for her winning at 40-0 with some very good serving,” she said.
In the other semi-final, top seed and world No. 1 Azarenka was to play fourth-seed Radwanska of Poland.
All of Radwanska’s four losses this year have come at the hands of Azarenka and having also reached the semi-finals here last year, the Polish No. 1 said it takes a special effort to beat the world’s top female player.
“You have to be at the top of your game and play some great tennis to beat her,” Radwanska said.
Azarenka needed nearly three hours to see off German wildcard Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 7-5 as her big-hitting opponent smashed down 13 aces.
Having already beaten former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and seventh-seed Marion Bartoli on the way to the quarters, Barthel put up another battling performance to take the match to three sets.
This was Azarenka’s fourth win over the 21-year-old German this year, but she had to work for it.
“She keeps producing some great tennis and she showed again today why she is a tough one to beat,” Azarenka said. “Her serve is definitely up there with the best, after more than two-and-a-half hours she was still blasting down aces. I have been saying for a while she is one to watch.”
Radwanska booked her place in the semis by beating French Open champion Li Na of China 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The Chinese struggled to cope as Radwanska raised her game with a series of drop shots and strong returns in the second set before carrying her improved form into the third.
With Roland Garros to start on May 27, Radwanska said she was enjoying finding her feet on clay courts as she bids to win her first Grand Slam title.
“I am enjoying my tennis and just trying everything at the moment, which probably worked against me in the first set,” said the 23-year-old, who claimed her ninth tour title at Miami recently. “I was more calm in the second set and I am just happy I could turn things around. I just hope this is my year, so I can take the next step.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB