Tennis: Sharapova wins 8th title

Lindsay Davenport's bid for a record fifth title at the Pan Pacific Open ended in defeat to Maria Sharapova in Tokyo.

The Wimbledon champion converted her fourth match point to win the deciding set tiebreak 7-5 and complete a 6-1 3-6 7-6 victory.

Davenport was hampered by a hamstring injury sustained in practice and after a one-sided first set, won by the Russian in just 22 minutes, it looked like she would be swept aside.

But the American took a medical time-out and fought back strongly on her return from the locker-room, as Sharapova's concentration wavered.