Defending champion Maria Sharapova moved to within one victory of her third straight Stuttgart title after a 6-1, 6-2 win over Italy's Sara Errani in Saturday's semi-final
Maria Sharapova
Stuttgart: Defending champion Maria Sharapova moved to within one victory of her third straight Stuttgart title after a 6-1, 6-2 win over Italy's Sara Errani in Saturday's semi-final.
Maria Sharapova
Sharapova, who won the title in 2012 and 2013, needed just under an hour to see off clay-court specialist Errani in what was a repeat of the 2012 French Open final which the Russian also won.
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"The further you go in the tournament, the harder it gets, and I really wanted to step up and produce a good performance," Sharapova said.
"The first tournament on clay is always tough — it's important to improve with each match and I think I've done that this week. I know how good Sara is on the surface and I was extra ready to perform against her."