Stuttgart, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova went the distance Tuesday in order to reach the second round at the $710,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The sixth-seeded former world No. 1 Russian star barely held off game Czech Lucie Safarova, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2), in 3 hours, 23 minutes on Day 2.
Sharapova beat Chinese star Li Na in last year's indoor finale on the red clay at Porsche Arena. Her second-round opponent on Thursday will be fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Meanwhile, eighth-seeded former French Open runner-up Sara Errani came from a double break down in the second set to defeat Czech Klara Koukalova, 6-3, 6-4.
Also in round one, Pavlyuchenkova pasted Latvian qualifier Diana Marcinkevica 6-3, 6-2; Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro handled Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-4; Italian Roberta Vinci grounded German Annika Beck 6-3, 6-2; Russian Alisa Kleybanova topped Croatian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-4; and two- time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova dismissed Italian qualifier Gioia Barbieri 6-2, 6-3. Kuznetsova captured the Porsche title in 2009.
The 2014 Stuttgart champ will claim $135,000 and a Porsche 911 Carrera sports car.
