Halep beats Stephens to take Montreal crown

MONTREAL: World No 1 Simona Halep held her nerve in a rollercoaster duel with Sloane Stephens Sunday to win the WTA Montreal crown for the second time.

In a gruelling 2hr 41min battle, French Open champion Halep prevailed 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-4 over Stephens in a repeat of the duo’s meeting in the final of Roland Garros earlier this year.The victory was Halep’s 18th career title and her second in Montreal following her success in 2016.

The 26-year-old sealed the win with an ace on her fourth match point, capping an enthralling duel marked by several momentum swings.Halep had taken the first set on a tie-break, after saving four set points against American third seed Stephens.

Halep made the stronger start, dictating rallies from the baseline to race into a 4-1 lead after twice breaking Stephens in the opening five games.Yet reigning US Open champion Stephens rallied superbly to claw her way back into the contest, breaking twice to level at 4-4. That however proved to be the cue for Halep to respond, breaking back after a net cord sat up invitingly for the Romanian, who crushed a winner into the corner for 5-4.

Another poor service game from Halep though gave the initiative back to Stephens, who broke for 5-5 and then held for a 6-5 lead.Stephens appeared to be closing in on the first set in the next game, when a wild forehand from Halep — her 20th unforced error — handed her opponent two set points.But Halep dug deep to save both points and then forced the tie-break.