Top seed Maria Sharapova defended a title for the fifth time in her career and extended her winning streak on clay to 16 matches by defeating second seed Li Na in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart with a straight-set victory which came after three three-setters that followed the first-round bye.

The new endorser of Porsche cars earned a double break in the first set to go up 4-1 and eventually win the set 6-4, while in the second set a stretch of four straight games helped her win it 6-3 when Li double faulted on match point.

Before the final, Sharapova defeated Lucie Safarova, Ana Ivanovic and Angelique Kerber, and soon she will be able to park the blue Porsche showcased in the corner of the clay court next to the white one she took home last year. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Top seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova won the 29th of her last 32 three-setters, and at this Porsche Tennis Grand Prix her third in a row, by edging German No.1 Angelique Kerber 6-3 2-6 7-5 in her home country in Stuttgart and advancing to the final of the Premier-level tournament in which she will face second seed Li Na.

From Sharapova’s 6-3 1-0 lead, the third-seeded Kerber took charge and won eight of the next nine games, then Sharapova went on a run of five of the next six games, before Kerber leveled the score to 6-3 2-6 5-5. The Russian force had the final say, though, as she finished the match by winning the next two games to love. Kerber is now 0-8 against Top 2 players.

Li Na followed Sharapova into the final, by stopping surprise semifinalist Bethanie Mattek Sands 6-4 6-3. (via WTA Tour, photos: sr_cranks)

Defending champion and top seed Maria Sharapova advanced to the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix after a struggle lasting two hours and 16 minutes against fellow Roland Garros champion and fellow former No.1 Ana Ivanovic. In the third set Sharapova let Ivanovic level to 4-4 after leading 4-1, but she again took charge with a break to love and held serve to finish the match 7-5 4-6 6-4. The Russian's semifinal opponent will be third seed Angelique Kerber, who put out Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3 7-6(2).

The other semifinal will feature Li Na and Bethanie Mattek Sands. The second-seeded French Open titlist Li defeated fellow Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova 6-3 7-5, winning 11 of 14 games from 0-2 down in the first set and even though Kvitova took charge in the next three games in a row, it was Li who closed it out to set up a meeting with surprise semifinalist Mattek Sands, who saved a match point in the qualifying stage of the tournament before taking out Yanina Wickmayer in the first round, fourth seed Sara Errani in the second (even impressively bageling the Italian in the first set) and Sabine Lisicki 6-4 6-2 in the quarterfinals, converting all six break chanced that she earned.

(photos: © Neal Trousdale)

The quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix will feature four Grand Slam champions, three of which have won Roland Garros (Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Li Na).

Top seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova played her first match on clay this season and it was a very tough victory for the Russian, as she needed three hours and nine minutes to get past Lucie Safarova with a 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3 score. Sharapova made eight double faults in the match and counterbalanced them with eight aces, while she converted just five of her 19 chances to break Safarova's serve. In the quarterfinals, Sharapova's opponent will be fellow Roland Garros champion Ana Ivanovic, who defeated Nadia Petrova 6-4 6-3.

The second-round clash of two unseeded players Jelena Jankovic and Sabine Lisicki was a highly entertaining and great-quality affair, with the home player advancing, but only after Jankovic saved an astonishing six set points in the first set and two match points in the second (actually, on the first match point Lisicki made her one and only double fault of the match). Throughout the encounter it was Lisicki who had the upper hand, but Jankovic was constantly hanging in there and causing the aggressive Lisicki much trouble, not allowing her to easily capitalize on her leads. At first, Lisicki broke Jankovic to lead 5-3 in the first set, but Jankovic broke right back and amazingly saved three set points to level to 5-5. When Lisicki was 6-5 40-0 up, Jankovic again showed her heart and excellent current form, but in the end she fell in the tiebreak. In the second set Lisicki was again constantly leading, but in the tenth game Jankovic leveled to 5-5, before eventually succumbing to the German's pressure 7-6(3) 7-5. Despite the loss, Jankovic has every reason to celebrate her current tennis, her first-round win over Samantha Stosur and her extraordinary performance today against Lisicki. It's almost midnight and the winner of the late encounter between Bethanie Mattek Sands and fourth seed Sara Errani will be Lisicki's quarterfinal opponent.

Second seed Li Na swept past qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-1 6-2 and will next play fellow Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova, who recovered from 2-6 0-1 to beat Julia Goerges 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2. Third seed Angelique Kerber defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0 6-4 and her quarterfinal rival will be Yaroslava Shvedova, who recorded a 7-5 6-4 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro, the winner over Caroline Wozniacki in the first round. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Jelena Jankovic recorded a 6-4 6-4 victory over sixth seed Samantha Stosur, favorite on paper, in the high-profile match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix to wrap up the first round of the $795,707 tournament. Coming off two excellent results at the recent Premier-level Miami (semis) and Charleston (final), the world No.18 Jankovic displayed solid form against Stosur, whose recovery from a calf strain is still questionable.

The match started with Stosur's serve, and both players held up to 4-4, when Jankovic earned her first and only break point of the set, but it was enough for her to seal the deal, even though she did struggle to close the set, as she saved one break point, on her second set point she double-faulted, while the third chance she didn't waste. Jankovic was great on winning points when her first serve was in, winning 19 of 22.

In the second set Jankovic quickly built a 3-1 lead, and the break in the third game of the set proved to be crucial. Jankovic did have an opportunity to finish the match on Stosur's serve in the ninth game, leading 5-3, but Stosur fought off two match points, before Jankovic finally finished in the next game, after one hour and 36 minutes of play.

Next for Jankovic is Sabine Lisicki, whom she's played and defeated three time so far, but all the meetings were in 2009.

In other notable first-rounders, fifth seed Petra Kvitova barely won against Annika Beck (who was coming off the Katowice semis), scoring a 7-5 6-7(0) 6-3 victory by finishing the match with 110 points won to Beck's 109, while seventh seed Caroline Wozniacki fell to Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(6) 6-1. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)