Sharapova advances into Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open Wuhan 2014

It was a classic match-up for the feature night match in Wuhan. 

The two have a head-to-head series that dates all the way back to 2003, they're Russia's only two multiple Grand Slam champions on the women's side, and they're also two of the most competitive players on the tour to this day. 

 And when they took the court they threw the rankings out the window, World No.25 Kuznetsova playing much more like the World No.2 she once was, ripping huge groundstrokes to keep Sharapova moving, eventually drawing 20 unforced errors from her in the first set alone and clinching the set, 6-3. 
 But Sharapova always seems to lift her game when she knows it's going to three and she did the very same this time, pouncing right from the start of the second set, cutting down on all those errors and pretty much running away with it in the next two sets, eventually finishing it off, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. After having eight winners and those 20 unforced errors in the first set, Sharapova tightened the screws in a big way in the second and third sets - she had 25 winners and 13 unforced in those two sets. It was Sharapova's WTA-leading 18th three set win of the year. 
No one else has more than 15. "Svetlana is a very good player, a former Grand Slam champion, and we've had really tough matches in the past," Sharapova said. "She was a very difficult first opponent for me, so I was happy with the way I played in the second and third sets. I wasn't waiting for her to give me the match. "I really stepped up after the first set, and that was really important."