Maria wins in Strasbourg before French Open

It was better late than never this week for Maria Sharapova, who, despite being a late entry into the Internationaux de Strasbourg, went all the way to her second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of the year, beating first-time finalist Kristina Barrois in straight sets for it.

Sharapova's power game was challenged early against the tricky Barrois, who mixed in big forehands with topspin and slice off her beautiful one-handed backhand. But after escaping a 5-3 deficit in the first set Sharapova rolled, taking 10 of the next 11 games for a 75 61 victory. It was the second clay court title for Sharapova out of 22 overall - she won her first at Amelia Island in 2008.

"Kristina changed it up a lot. Her backhand was more old school, with 90% of the shots low, so I really had to bend my knees," Sharapova said afterwards. "I had one sloppy game where I made a few unforced errors and that gave her the chance to go a break up. When she was serving for the set at 4-5 I managed to hang in there, and after that I felt my level went up a little bit. In the end, it was just a combination of doing a few things better than she was."

Sharapova, who was the No.1 seed, did have some tough ones during the week. She was pushed to three sets twice, against Regina Kulikova in the first round and No.5 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues in the semis; and that semifinal match wasn't her only task Friday - she played most of her quarterfinal that day too, thanks to rain hindering and eventually stopping play on Thursday.

"If you asked me before the tournament if I'd come back again, I would've said I'd have to win this year. I guess that's a sign I need to come back," Sharapova added. "I had a great week. Obviously you don't know how things turn out but I hope to come back. I'm looking forward to Roland Garros. It's obviously the most challenging of the Grand Slams for me, but I've done well there before."

"It was a good tournament, no matter what happened today," Barrois said. "I had my chances in the first set but couldn't win it, and then she put so much pressure on me. It's good to have so many matches on clay just before the French. Hopefully I play the same there like I did here."


Saturday, May 22, 2010

Singles - Final
(1/WC) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Kristina Barrois (FRA) 75 61