Stuttgart — Maria Sharapova crashed out in the opening round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Tuesday as French sixth seed Caroline Garcia staged a fightback to win 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-4. Five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who turned 31 last week, looked to be in control as she made just two unforced errors in winning the opening set. But Garcia, who had never beaten the Russian in four previous meetings, rallied in the second set as she came from 4-2 down and levelled the contest in a tie-break. The 41st-ranked Sharapova returned to tennis in Stuttgart a year ago after a doping ban. She claimed an early break in the third set, but lost it in the third game. Sharapova was broken to trail 4-5 and put her opponent under momentary pressure at 0-30 as Garcia tried to serve out the win. However the world No7 succeeded on her second match point as Sharapova struck a return wide to exit after a two-and-three-quarter hour battle on the indoor clay court. Garcia will next take on Ukrainian q...
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