TENNIS – Maria Sharapova fought back from a set down to edge past Carla Suarez Navarro with 4-6 7-5 6-1 after a two-hour and 30-minute battle to win her title at the Foro Italico in Rome and her 35th WTA career title. Diego Sampaolo
Maria Sharapova was crowned as the Queen of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the third time in her career after her first two consecutive triumphs in 2011 and 2012 but she had to dig deep in the first two sets against Carla Suarez Navarro who clinched the first set with 6-4 before recovering from 1-3 to draw level to 3-3 in the second set. Sharaopva pulled away to 5-3 but Suarez Navarro clawed her way into the set by drawing level again to 5-5. Sharaopva won the next two games of the second set to love to win 7-5 and forced the match to the third set.
Sharapova ran away to win the third set and hit an inside-out forehand winner with 6-1 for her 35th career title. She will return to World Number 2 in the WTA Ranking ahead of Simona Halep.
Carla Suarez Navarro enjoyed an excellent week in which she beat three top players for the first time in her career and achieved the biggest win of her career when she beat Halep in the semifinal. After Rome she will move up to World Number 8 ahead of the French Open In Paris.
