On Sunday night, Maria Sharapova defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the Tianjin Open. The two-hour match was hard fought with Sharapova toughing it out 7-5 7-6(8) against her largely unknown Belarus opponent.
It is the former world No.1’s first WTA title since 2015 and, given the extreme media and peer scrutiny she has endured since being found guilty of doping in 2016, one that is extremely emotional.
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“It is a special title, a special victory,” Sharapova gleamed in her post-match press conference. “It has been a couple of years since I have held the winner’s trophy. It is a great feeling, a team effort.”
“When you start all the way from the beginning of the tournament, and it was so cold and not as many spectators, and then you end up playing the final in a full stadium with so much enthusiasm and energy and you are the one that wins the last point, just everything falls into place. You have to appreciate those moments, never take them for granted.”
THE MOMENT! @MariaSharapova wins the 2017 Tianjin Open 7-5, 7-6 in just over 2 hours ???? #tianjinopen #Sharapova pic.twitter.com/kSQyqrgr3N
— Tianjin Open (@TianjinOpen) October 15, 2017
The win marks Sharapova’s 36th career title and sees her ascend 29 ranking places to world No.57; this means she no longer has to compete in qualifying rounds or rely upon wildcard entries to land a place in the main draw of the majority of WTA tournaments.
Given the weak competition she faced in Tianjin, Maria Sharapova is still very much a great unknown. But with a win against current world No.1 Simona Halep in September, and now a title in which she did not drop a single set and defeated third seed defending champion and countrywoman Peng Shuai, the Russian is slowly erasing those question marks.
Sharapova: Critics don’t have all the facts
And by moving around like this…
Best point of the match! @MariaSharapova (????@WTA) pic.twitter.com/gKAX7vuayR
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) October 14, 2017
And hitting balls like this…
????????(????@WTA) pic.twitter.com/D6RiPeBRRG
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) October 13, 2017
…She’s making things more and more scary for her competition. As for the competition, Sharapova holds a combined head-to-head record of 39-13 over the current top ten women.
The Russian will now look to further improve her ranking as a wildcard in in the Kremlin Cup, a tournament in Moscow without a top ten-ranked woman in the draw. After that, she will likely call it a year, take some time off and train intensely for Australian Open 2018.
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