Sharapova toils on way to Stuttgart quarters

STUTTGART, Germany (AFP): French Open champion Maria Sharapova admitted she had dug deep to reach the quarter-finals of Stuttgart’s WTA tournament after her three-hour marathon victory over claycourt specialist Lucie Safarova on Thursday.

Sharapova, who won last year’s Stuttgart title en route to her Roland Garros victory, needed three hours, nine minutes to squeeze past her Czech opponent for a 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 second-round victory. With a 5-2 lead in the third set and serving for the match, Sharapova squandered three match points as Safarova broke her, before the Russian returned the compliment to claim the match.

“I’ve had a few three-hour games in my career, so I knew I just had to keep fighting until the end,” said the statuesque Russian, who faces former world number one Ana Ivanovic in Friday’s quarter-finals.

“That’s when it’s the time to get the game-plan going and calm down a little bit. Clay is one of her favourite surfaces and I knew this was going to be a tough game, so I am glad to get through. The first match of the claycourt season is always tough, it’s nothing like practising.”

Sharapova’s last eight opponent Ivanovic beat Russia’s Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-3 in her second round game, having dropped to 17th in the world rankings.

Earlier second-seed China’s Li Na has admitted she has one eye on a brand new sports car, the winner’s prize here, as she prepares to face Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals.