Top seed Maria Sharapova was lucky to reach the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals after her second-round opponent Anna-Lena Groenefeld retired with an ankle injury while leading 6-1 4-2.
The unseeded German was 4-1 ahead in the second set when she slipped and twisted her left ankle.
Until her injury, Groenefeld had dominated the world number one, outplaying Sharapova from the start.
The Florida-based Russian, who was making her Kremlin Cup debut, was broken three times in the opening set, losing her serve to love in the third and seventh games.
Sharapova again surrendered her serve in the fourth game of the second set when she hit a lame forehand into the net on break point to fall 3-1 behind.
Groenefeld won the next game and held two break points in the sixth before stumbling on the baseline while trying to reach Sharapova's shot.
October 12th, 2005
Posted by: Marco
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