STUTTGART (Germany): Two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova cruised past Sara Errani 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday to reach her third straight Porsche Grand Prix final.
Sharapova dominated the 59-minute semifinal and will play Ana Ivanovic in the final. Sharapova extended her winning streak on Stuttgart’s indoor clay to 12 matches and is undefeated against Errani in five matches.
Ivanovic, looking for her third title of the year, beat Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 7-5 in an all-Serb match.
Errani hit a big cross-court return that kissed the line to save the first match point.
But Sharapova then hit a superb backhand winner down the line to close the match.
Sharapova is looking for her 30th career title. The Russian returned late last year after missing more than four months following shoulder surgery.
Ivanovic earned her third match point when Jankovic slipped and fell. A return by Jankovic that went wide gave Ivanovic another match point which she clinched when her opponent sent another return into the net.
Ivanovic, a former No. 1 like Jankovic and Sharapova, now has a 9-3 career edge over Jankovic.
In the doubles, Sania Mirza reached the summit clash with Zimbabwean partner Cara Black.
The second seeds defeated the German pairing of Antonia Lottner and Anna Zaja 6-2, 2-6, 10-4.
Meanwhile, in Bucharest, top-seeded Grigor Dimitrov advanced to the final of the Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Saturday when Gael Monfils had to retire with an ankle injury in the first set.
Monfils twisted his right ankle when walking onto the court before the match and had to quit when trailing 5-1 after just 16 minutes of play. Dimitrov will play defending champion Lukas Rosol in Sunday’s final, after the Czech player rallied to beat Robin Haase of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Dimitrov is looking for his third career ATP title but said he was disappointed Monfils wasn’t able to continue playing. The Bulgarian said that “as much as I am happy, it is an undeserved win and unfortunately it had to end that way. … I hope he will be OK for the coming weeks.” (Agencies)
