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17 October, 2017 00:00 00 AM
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Sharapova fights to first title since drugs ban

Pavlyuchenkova beats Gavrilova in Hong Kong
AFP
Sharapova fights to first title since drugs ban
Maria Sharapova of Russia poses with her trophy after winning her women’s singles final match against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the Tianjin Open tennis tournament in Tianjin on Sunday. AFP PHOTO

AFP, TIANJIN: Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova was made to fight by 102nd-ranked teenager Aryna Sabalenka at the Tianjin Open on Sunday before winning her first title since her 15-month doping ban.

The former world number one, who returned to action in April, came from behind in both sets and needed four championship points in the tie-breaker before beating the 19-year-old 7-5, 7-6 (10/8).

Sharapova clasped her hands to her chest in delight as she absorbed the feeling of winning her 36th tour title and first in more than two years since the 2015 Italian Open.

Sharapova, 30, was contesting the seventh tournament of what has been an injury-plagued and controversial comeback since testing positive for the banned substance meldonium in early 2016.

She exchanged 11 breaks of serve with the Belarusian, who has yet to win a WTA trophy, before finally clinching it in the tie-breaker when the teenager put a forehand return long.

In a tight final of high-decibel shrieking, Sabalenka was broken in the opening game but any expectations that she would roll over quickly dissolved when she won four games in a row to go 4-1 up.

Sharapova's coach Sven Groeneveld urged her to use the body serve, and momentum immediately shifted as she held the next game and then edged a nine-minute game seven to wrestle it back on serve.

Sabalenka angrily slammed her racquet down as she double-faulted to be broken for a third time and with Sharapova serving at 6-5, the Belarusian overcooked a forehand to hand over the set.

The second set followed a similar pattern and Sabalenka was 5-1 up before Sharapova reeled her in, breaking three times -- and saving a set point along the way -- before serving for the match at 6-5.

But a double fault from the Russian took it to a closely contested tie-break, where Sharapova held championship points four times before finally sealing it after two hours and five minutes.

Sharapova, whose ranking has dropped to 86, has been playing on wildcards this season. Her return has proved divisive, with some rivals insisting she shouldn't be back on tour at all.

She now heads to next week's Kremlin Cup in Moscow for the first time since 2007, after also being given a wildcard to play in what is her home tournament.

Meanwhile, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova came from behind to win a typhoon-delayed marathon Hong Kong Open final 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) against Daria Gavrilova in the early hours of Monday morning.

It was three minutes past one o'clock in the morning (1703 GMT) when sixth seed Pavlyuchenkova converted the third of her match points.

It enabled the world number 21 to edge over the winning line after 3hr 11min of attritional tennis against her Australian opponent punctuated by frequent rain delays.

Almost an hour earlier the Russian had spurned two championship points at 5-4 on her own serve only to see another heavy shower send the players scurrying for cover.

And Pavlyuchenkova only had herself to blame for not getting the job done earlier after racing into a 3-0 lead when the match eventually began at 9:18 pm after a near five-hour delay.

She failed to serve out for the first set at 5-3 after being in control almost throughout and saw gritty world number 22 Gavrilova steal in 7-5 on the back of a run of three unanswered games.

The second set was almost a carbon copy of the first but this time the Russian managed to hold her nerve at 5-3 and took it to a decider against the seventh seed.

Both players had chances in the third set but they remained deadlocked as tiredness set in and the clock ticked past midnight Pavlyuchenkova then broke for 5-4 but once again failed to close out on her own serve.

After a 40-minute final rain delay the pair broke each other's serve yet again and the match headed for the deciding tiebreak.

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Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman

Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.

Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.

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