Maria Sharapova warmed up for next week's French Open with a hard-fought win over Carla Suarez Navarro which clinched her third Italian Open title this afternoon.
The Russian recovered came from a set down to edge out her Spanish counterpart with 4-6 7-5 6-1 victory, in a gruelling two-and-a-half hour contest in Rome.
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With the second Grand Slam of 2015 looming large, today's encounter offered the opportunity for both players to build some momentum ahead of Roland Garros.
It was Suarez Navarro, yet to progress past the quarter-final in a major tournament, who looked most determined to take a trophy to Paris next week.
The Spaniard - ranked 10th in the world - broke the five-time Grand Slam winner in the fifth game to move 3-2 ahead after a cagey opening.
It proved a crucial break of serve as Suarez Navarro ultimately took a first-set lead by a two-game margin.
It was tit for tat for large spells in the second set as Sharapova lost her serve immediately after breaking on two occasions as the pair sat level on five games apiece, but the Russian had the last laugh as she crucially broke again to avoid a tie-break.
Sharapova got off to an ominous start when Suarez Navarro inflicted a break of serve to kick off the deciding set, but it seemed to rile the world number three, who won six straight games to pick up a third title in Rome.
Shane Callaghan
