Maria Sharapova enjoyed lifting her first WTA trophy since coming back from the Meldonium doping ban in April, overcoming Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 7-5 7-6(8) in the hotly-contested Tianjin Open final. The five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova recovered from deep deficits in both sets against Sabalenka and won the $426,750 International-level event without dropping a set, her 36th career title.
After opening the title match by breaking Sabalenka’s serve, Sharapova’s downfall started, as the Russian quickly fell to 1-4. After a long seventh game, Sharapova converted her fourth break point to get the set back on serve, regain control and frustrate the first-time WTA finalist Sabalenka, eventually winning the set by virtue of yet another break in the eleventh game.