Sequera was forced to retire from her first WTA Tour championship match, giving second seed Maria Sharapova of Russia the second title of her career.

A Venezuelan who has spent most of her career on the developmental ITF Tour, the 23-year-old Sequera lost the first set 6-2 and she was unable to continue due to an ankle injury.

"I wanted to say that I am happy for this win," Sharapova said. "But now I just want to say that I am sad for Milagros. I wish her the best and I want her to know that she should be very proud of the great week she had."

This was the most successful week of Sequera's career on the WTA Tour.

After reaching her first tour quarterfinal, Sequera upset French sixth seed Marion Bartoli and top-seeded Mary Pierce of France.

Starting this week at a career-high No. 91, she will rise to the high-70s in the rankings released on Monday. 1