Russia's Maria Sharapova beat world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-4 in the Stuttgart clay court final on Sunday to claim her first WTA tour title of the year and end a two-match losing streak against the Belarussian Sharapova, ranked second in the world, outplayed Azarenka, who had beaten her in the Australian Open final and the Indian Wells final during her 26-match unbeaten run this year. Sharapova, far more aggressive in this battle of baseliners, snatched an early break to love and fired two successive aces to go 5-2 up. The Russian broke her opponent again and fired her fifth ace on set point to rush through the first set in 29 minutes. Azarenka, who has won four titles this year, briefly fought back despite a wrist injury but was broken again to trail 5-3. Sharapova secured the prize money and a luxury sports car with her first match point. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter: @AO Sports)
