The Russian made a comeback won her first WTA title in more than two years at the Tianjin Open on Sunday.It is the five-time Grand Slam winner’s 36th WTA tournament victory.Maria Sharapova defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 7-6 (8) to take the Tianjin Open title.
The former World number one entered the tournament as wild card, she returned to the tour in April following a 15-month doping ban defeated the world number 101 Belarusian teenager and celebrate her first title since she won the Italian Open in May 2015.
The former world No. 1 was denied a wild card for the French Open before missing Wimbledon because of injury.
19-year-old led 4-1 and 5-1 in the first and second sets respectively.But the five-time Grand Slam champion clawed her way back into it twice to secure the title in dramatic fashion.The 30-year-old Russian, who did not drop a set en route to Sunday’s final, fought back on each occasion .Sabalenka survived three match points but a double fault gave Sharapova a fourth chance to claim her first title in 29 months
Sharapova moves up to number 57 in the world rankings.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.
