Sharapova clinches Tokyo title

“I’m very happy of course, there’s no better way to say it, but it’s a great feeling to win, of course. Lindsay played an amazing match and it came down to the tie-breaker so it was obviously a tough match,” said Sharapova.

The two players appeared evenly matched in the first three games. But Davenport, with her left thigh taped, lost the following four games in succession to go down 1-6. She took a medical time out at the beginning of the second set.

Davenport could not move well and used her big serves and fine placement to jump ahead 3-0 in the second set. She went on to keep the lead before hitting an ace to even the contest at one-all.

Neither could break each other in the final set, with Davenport concentrating on holding her serve and saving one break point in the fourth game. But Sharapova fired a fine service return winner to take a 4-2 lead in the tie-breaker and then a 5-2 lead thanks to a backhand error by the American, before taking a commanding 6-2 lead.

Davenport saved three match points but Sharapova hit a forehand winner to finish off the one-hour-48-minute contest at her fourth attempt. “I believed in myself. Lindsay was serving so well. I just tried to hold my serve until what happened in the tie-breaker. It was very, very close,” said Sharapova.

It was Sharapova’s eighth career WTA singles title and the win took her to a career-high third rank.

Although Davenport retains her world top ranking, it was her second straight disappointment in a final after she lost to Serena Williams in the Australian Open last week.