Stuttgart: Maria Sharapova after a long time gap of 15-month doping ban faced her first defeat as Kristina Mladenovic beat her in the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Open.
France’s Kristina Mladenovic rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory to reach the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix here.
She will next face Germany’s Laura Siegemund in Sunday’s final.
Sharapova looked headed for victory when she dominated the opening set with the loss of just four points serve here on Saturday.
In the second and third sets, however, Mladenovic made the 30-year-old Russian pay for missing her first serve, winning the vast majority of her opponent’s second-serve points to break her four times.
Despite the narrow defeat, the five-time Grand Slam champion showed little sign of rust throughout the tournament and even kept down her number of double faults relative to some tournaments in the past.
Having been given a wildcard entry, Russian Sharapova needed to reach the final in Germany to be eligible for qualifying for the French Open.
Her defeat means she will be outside the top 200 when the rankings are released on Monday, so she will need a wildcard to compete in qualifying or the main draw in the event in Paris, which starts on 28 May.
She will learn on 16 May whether she will be given a wildcard for either stage at Roland Garros.
