ROME — Maria Sharapova retained the Italian Open title on Sunday with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over Li Na.
Li appeared to be on course for the victory as she stormed out to a 6-4, 4-0 lead, but 24 unforced errors allowed Sharapova to take the next six games and the set.
Sharapova then seemed headed to the victory when it began to drizzle. The Russian took a 4-1 lead in the third, but Li fought back to win four successive games to take a 5-4 lead. Both held their serves the rest of the way as Sharapova went on to win the tiebreak.