win streak on clay where Sharapova won the first set and went on to win the match. The last time Sharapova lost a match on clay, after winning the first set was against Dinara Safina in the fourth round at the 2008 French Open. As a result of the loss Sharapova lost the No. 2 ranking to Simona Halep. Sharapova's next clay court tournament was the Madrid Open where she was the defending champion. She advanced to the semifinals. There, she was beaten by Svetlana Kuznetsova for the first time since 2008. Sharapova's next tournament was the Italian Open in Rome where she was seeded third. She beat Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals in straight sets to set up a re-match with Daria Gavrilova. She beat Gavrilova in straight sets to advance to the final, where she faced Carla Suárez Navarro. After losing the first set, Sharapova managed to claim the next two sets and her third Rome title. By winning Rome, Sharapova reclaimed the No. 2 ranking over Halep, until August 24, when Halep went again to world No. 2, due to Sharapova's not playing any match after Wimbledon (where she reached the semifinals but lost to Serena), including US Open, due to injuries. She then received a wildcard into Wuhan Open and received a bye into the second round. However, she retired in her match against Barbora Strýcová in the 3rd set, citing a left forearm injury. She then withdrew from the China Open, where she was the defending champion, to recover in time for the WTA Finals and the Fed Cup final. At the WTA Finals, she was drawn into the red group, alongside Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwańska and Flavia Pennetta. She then won all three of her round-robin matches, and achieved 1st position in her group. Her win over Pennetta also marked the last match of the Italian's career. Sharapova then played the player who finished 2nd in the White Group, Petra Kvitová. She lost the match in straight sets, despite having a 5–1 lead in the second set. Sharapova then played in the Fed Cup final, winning both of her matches, against Karolína Plíšková and got revenge against Petra Kvitová for her loss in the WTA Finals. However, Russia eventually lost 2–3 after falling in a crucial doubles rubber. The Russian ended the season as being the world No. 4, despite not playing the US