The Quarterfinals brought a lot of spectacle in Stuttgart!
First off the amazing match between Stosur and Sharapova. I've never seen two players so closely fighting for the win. The first tiebreak went to Stosur (7-5) and when she was leading 5-3 in the second set, I was convinced she could finish it. But the Russian battled back Sharapova-style to take the second set tiebreak, also 7-5. In the third set, both players were serving incredibly so breakpoints were scarce. Sharapova managed to grab the break at 6-5 to serve out the match with a love game after three hours of tennis. You have to keep in mind that after those two first sets, there was just ONE point difference in favor of Sharapova. It can't get any closer than that! (and Stosur knows it)
Another three-setter in the duel between Na Li and Radwanska. After losing the first set 3-6, Radwanska used her very successful drop-lob-great shot tactic to overpower the Chinese in the next two sets: 6-2, 6-3.
It's too bad Kerber couldn't back up her great win against Wozniacki with a semifinal spot. Kvitova was too much for her in two sets: 6-4, 6-4.
And not only the number two Sharapova faced elimination, Azarenka had her hands full with the young Mona Barthel, downing her in the end 6-4, (3)6-7, 7-5.
The semifinals in Stuttgart had to be played between the first four ranked players (I think that's a while since that happened in a tournament!).
The draw was again not in Radwanska's favor. She experienced her fourth consecutive loss to Azarenka (Radwanska has not yet had a loss against someone else than the number one!). Score was: 6-1, 6-3 in an hour and 15 minutes, so she's not getting any closer to beating her unfortunately.
The other semifinal featured Kvitova against Sharapova. This match consisted of one lost chance after another for Kvitova who didn't convert her breakpoints or setpoint in the second set at 5-4. After that, she played too much unforced errors and Sharapova could finish it in a tiebreak. Score: 6-4, 7-6(3).
And yet again we got a final between Sharapova and Azarenka, get your earplugs out! Azarenka leads 2-0 in 2012, winning both the final of the Australian Open and BNP Paribas Open. This time Sharapova was the more confident, energetic and determined. In set one, Azarenka could hardly make a dent in the solid game of the Russian: 6-1. The second set showed more suspense but Sharapova held her nerve and finished off with 6-4.
So it's 2-1 now, still in favor of the number one. But oh boy, their rivalry is taken to a new level! Watch this interesting 'bump' during changeover:
And it wouldn't be the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix if there wasn't a fancy car to drive during the ceremony. Thankfully Sharapova is better in tennis than handling a clutch because she just managed to drive five meters!
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