Our site uses cookies to deliver a better experience. Please click accept to agree with the use of all cookies. You can change the cookie settings here.
A POOR service game from Mladenovic right when she was serving for the match keeps Sharapova alive! The former World No.1 will serve to make it 5-5. Nerves from the Frenchwoman?
And Mladenovic CONVERTS! She leads 5-2. Does this signal the end of the Sharapova comeback at Stuttgart or does the three-time champion have something left in the tank to stretch this match further?
And it's at BREAK POINT NUMBER 4 that Kristina Mladenovic finally capitalizes! A jubilant roar from the Frenchwoman indicates that she believes this one is in the bag.
4-2 with the break to Kristina Mladenovic, who won the second 7-5. Something had to give!
It seems now as though both players aren't trying to outplay the other so much as wait for their rival to make errors. And right now, it's Mladenovic who sends one into the top of the net. 2-2 on serve in the decider.
Quite the bouncy backhand from Kristina Mladenovic! It spins a bit, does the ball, and lands so close to the net Sharapova was never going to make that. Sublime shot.
As predicted, the momentum has slowed somewhat. Some rudimentary errors from both players, but Mladenovic looking marginally better here in Stuttgart. 1-1.
Service hold from Kiki Mladenovic to begin set 3. 1-0 to the Frenchwoman. Although there's a fight from both ends the momentum of the match has slowed significantly - but it's either's match still...
That took long enough! And it's Kiki Mladenovic who leads 6-5 with a LONG, long, long hold of serve. Sharapova will want to serve this out and take it to tiebreak...
All looked a bit hit and miss there, and literally, with both players putting in some slides - someone's been practising their skiing!
Just joking... but this set is nowhere near as one-sided as the first. Mladenovic isn't having the most consistent time of it, but luckily for her, Sharapova's being just as patchy.
