Maria Sharapova’s impressive comeback at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix got to an end at the hands of Kristina Mladenovic in the semifinals, while Laura Siegemund, whose career breakthrough happened last year in Stuttgart, managed to reach the title match for the second year in a row.
Wildcard Sharapova reached the final four without dropping a set, looking as if she hadn’t been absent for 15 months, and against Mladenovic she was up a set and a break, but the Frenchwoman prevailed 3-6 7-5 6-4. To be eligible for the French Open qualifying, Sharapova needed to reach the final in Stuttgart, while now we’ll have to wait for May 16th to hear the decision about a wildcard entry for the claycourt Grand Slam.